
frfoss 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



HISTORY 



OP THE 



COLONY AND ANCIENT DOMINION 



OF 



VIRGINIA. 



•gfatY OF COA/fi^ 



. BY , 
(/ 



CHARLES CAMPBELL. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT AND CO. 
18G0. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 

CHARLES CAMPBELL, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for Ihe Eastern 
District of Virginia. 



■ ^ 



PEE FACE. 



Although Virginia must be content with a secondary and unpre- 
tending rank in the general department of history, yet in the abund- 
ance and the interest of her historical materials, she may, without 
presumption, claim pre-eminence among the Anglo-American colonies. 
While developing the rich resources with which nature has so munifi- 
cently endowed her, she ought not to neglect her past, which teaches 
so many useful lessons, and carries with it so many proud recollections. 
Her documentary history, lying, much of it, scattered and fragmentary, 
in part slumbering in the dusty oblivion of Transatlantic archives, 
ought to be collected with pious care, and embalmed in the perpetuity 
of print. 

The work now presented to the reader will be found to be written 
in conformity with the following maxim of Lord Bacon: "It is the 
office of history to represent the events themselves, together with the 
counsels, and to leave the observations and conclusions thereupon, to 
the liberty and faculty of every man's judgment." 

I avail myself of this occasion to express my acknowledgments to 
Hugh B. Grigsby, Esq., (who has contributed so much to the illustra- 
tion of Virginia history by his own writings,) for many valuable 
suggestions, and for having undergone the trouble of revising a large 
part of the manuscript of this work. 



Petersburg, Va., September 2d, 1859. 



(xi) 



* 



SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 



Chapter I. — Early Voyages of Discovery. Sir Walter Raleigh's Colony of 

Virginia 17 

II. — Early Life and Adventures of Captain John Smith 30 

III. — Landing at Jamestown and Settlement of Virginia proper. 

Wingfield, President of Council. Ratcliffe, President 35 

IV. — Smith's Explorations. Smith, President 55 

V. — Smith's Adventures with the Indians. His Administration of 

the Colony. His Departure. His Character and Writings.. 70 

VI. — The Indians of Virginia 85 

VII. — Sufferings of the Colonists. Wreck of the Sea- Venture. Mis- 
cellaneous Affairs. Percy, President. Lord Delaware, Go- 
vernor. Percy, Acting Governor. Sir Thomas Dale, High 

Marshal. Sir Thomas Gates, Governor 92 

VIII. — Pocahontas visits England. Her Death. Yeardley, Deputy 

Governor 112 

IX. — Argall, Governor. His Administration. Powhatan's Death.. 124 

X.— Sir Walter Raleigh 132 

XI. — First Assembly of Virginia. Powell, Deputy Governor. 

Yeardley, Governor 138 

XII. — Negroes imported into Virginia. Yeardley, Governor 143 

\ XIII. — London Company. George Sandys, Treasurer. Wyat, Go- 
vernor 149 

XIV.— Tobacco 153 

XV.— East India School 158 

XVI.— Massacre of 1622 160 

XVII. — Extermination of Indians 166 

XVIII. — Dissolution of Charter of Virginia Company. Earl of South- 
ampton, Nicholas Ferrar, and Sir Edwin Sandys 169 

XIX. — Royal Government established in Virginia. Yeardley, Gover- 
nor. West, Governor. Pott, Governor. Sir John Harvey, 

Governor 179 

XX. — Maryland settled. Contest between Clayborne and Lord Bal- 
timore 187 

XXI. — Virginia during Harvey's Administration. He is recalled and 

succeeded by Wyatt 193 

(xiii) 



XIV SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 

Chapter XXII. — Virginia during the Civil War of England. Berkley, Go- 
vernor. Kemp, Governor 199 

XXIII. — Virginia during the Commonwealth of England. Bennet, 

Governor 210 

XXIV — Maryland during the Protectorate 222 

XXV. — Virginia during the Protectorate. Digges, Governor. 

Matthews, Governor 233 

XXVI. — Virginia under Richard Cromwell and during the Interreg- 
num. Berkley, Governor 240 

XXVII. — Loyalty of Virginia. Miscellaneous Affairs. Morrison, 

Governor. Berkley, Governor 249 

XXVIII. — Scarburgh's Report of his Proceedings in establishing the 
Boundary Line between Virginia and Maryland. "The 
Bear and the Cub," an extract from the Accomac Re- 
cords 259 

XXIX.— Miscellaneous Affairs 263 

XXX.— Berkley's Statistics of Virginia 271 

XXXL— Threatened Revolt 274 

XXXII. — Rev. Morgan Godwyn's Account of the Condition of the 

Church in Virginia 277 

XXXIII. — Indian Disturbances. Disaffection of Colonists 280 

XXXIV.— Bacon's Rebellion 283 

XXXV. — Bacon's Rebellion, continued 293 

XXXVL— Bacon's Rebellion, continued 308 

XXXVIL— Closing Scenes of the Rebellion 313 

XXXVIII. — Punishment of the Rebels. Berkley's death. Succeeded 

by Jeffreys 319 

XXXIX. — Chicheley, Governor. Culpepper, Governor 326 

XL.— Statistics of Virginia 331 

XLI. — Effingham, Governor. Death of Beverley. Effingham's 

Corruption and Tyranny 335 

XLII. — William and Mary proclaimed. College chartered. An- 

dros, Governor 343 

XLIII. — Condition of Virginia. Powers of Governor. Courts and 

State Officers. Revenue 349 

XLIV. — Administration of Andros. Nicholson again Governor.... 356 
XLV. — Assembly held in the College. Ceremony of Opening. Go- 
vernor's Speech 364 

XLVI. — Church Affairs. Nicholson recalled. Huguenots 367 

XLVII.' — Rev. Francis Makemie. Dissenters 371 

XLVI1I. — Nott, Lieutenant-Governor. Earl of Orkney, Governor-in- 
chief 375 

XLIX. — Spotswood, Governor 378 

L. — Indian School 384 

LI.— Spotswood's Tramontane Expedition 387 

LII. — Virginia succours South Carolina. Disputes between 

Spotswood and the Burgesses. Blackbeard 391 



SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. XV 

Chapter LIII. — Spotswood's Administration reviewed. His subsequent 

Career and Death. His Family 398 

LIV. — Drysdale, Governor. Robert Carter, President 411 

LV. — Goocli's Administration. Carthagena Expedition 414 

LVI. — Settlement of the Valley. John Lewis 423 

LVII. — Rev. James Blair. Governor Gooch and the Dissenters. 

Morris. Davies. Whitefield 433 

LVIII. — Gooch resigns. Robinson, President. Lee, President. 

Burwell, President 444 

LIX. — Dinwiddie, Governor. Davies and the Dissenters. George 

Washington. Fairfax 452 

LX. — Hostilities with the French. Death of Jumonville. Wash- 
ington surrenders at Fort Necessity 460 

LXI. — Dinwiddie's Administration, continued. Braddock's Ex- 
pedition v 469 

LXIL— Davies. Waddell. Washington 482 

LXIII.— Settlers of the Valley. Sandy Creek Expedition. Din- 
widdie succeeded byj'resident Blair 488 

LXIV. — Fauquier, Governor. Forbes captures Fort Du Quesne... 500 

LXV.— "The Parsons' Cause." Patrick Henry's Speech 507 

LXVI.— Patrick Henry 510 

LXVII. — Rev. Jonathan Boucher's Opinions on Slavery. Re- 
marks 526 

LXVIII. — Disputes between Colonies and Mother Country. Stamp 
Act. Speaker Robinson, Randolph, Bland, Pendleton, 

Lee, Wythe 530 

LXIX. — Stamp Act opposed. Loan-Office Scheme. Robinson's 
Defalcation. Stamp Act Repealed. Offices of Speaker 

and Treasurer separated. Family of Robinson 538 

LXX. — Bland's Inquiry. — Death of Fauquier. Persecution of 

Baptists. Blair's tolerant Spirit 549 

LXXI. — Botetourt, Governor. Parliamentary Measures resisted. 
Death of Botetourt. Nelson, President. American 

Episcopate 556 

LXXII. — Rev. Devcreux Jarratt , 563 

LXXIII. — Duty on Tea. Dunmore, Governor. Revolutionary Pro- 
ceedings 568 

LXXIV. — Dunmore's Administration. Revolutionary Proceedings.. 572 
LXXV. — Richard Henry Lee. Congress at Philadelphia. Patrick 

Henry. Washington 577 

LXXVI. — Battle of Point Pleasant. General Andrew Lewis. Corn- 
stalk 582 

LXXVII. — Logan. Kenton. Girty. Dunmore's ambiguous Conduct 590 

LXXVIII.— Daniel Boone 595 

LXXIX. — Second Virginia Convention. Henry's Resolutions and 

Speech 599 

LXXX. — Thomas Jefferson 608 



XVI SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 

Chapter LXXXI. — Dunmore removes the Gunpowder. Revolutionary Com- 
motions. Patrick Henry extorts Compensation for 

the Powder from the Governor 607 

LXXXIL— The Mecklenburg Declaration 615 

LXXXIII. — Dunmore retires from Williamsburg. AVashington made 

Commander-in-chief. 618 

LXXXIV. — Committee of Safety. Carrington, Read, Cabell. Death 

of Peyton Randolph. The Randolphs of Virginia... 624 
LXXXV. — Dunmore's War. Battle of Great Bridge. Committee 

of Safety and Colonel Henry 632 

LXXXVI. — Dunmore's War, continued. Colonel Henry resigns 639 

LXXXVII. — Convention at Williamsburg. Declaration of Rights 
and Constitution of Virginia. Patrick Henry, Go- 
vernor. George Mason 644 

LXXXVIII. — Declaration of Independence. George Wythe. Benja- 
min Harrison, Jr., of Berkley. Thomas Nelson 652 

LXXXIX. — Richard Henry Lee. Francis Lightfoot Lee. Carter 

Braxton 659 

XC. — Dunmore retires from Virginia. Events of the War in 

the North. Death of General Hugh Mercer 664 

XCL— Death of Richard Bland. The Bland Genealogy. Peti- 
tions concerning Church Establishment. Scheme of 
Dictator. Hampden Sidney College. The Virginia 

Navy 670 

XCII. — Examination of Chai'ges against Richard Henry Lee. 

His Honorable Acquittal 681 

XCIII. — Events of the War in the North. General Clark's Expe- 
dition to the Northwest 685 

XCIV. — Convention Troops removed to Charlottesville. Church 
Establishment abolished. Events of the War in the 
South. Battle of King's Mountain. Jetferson, Go- 

veimor 693 

XCV. — Arthur Lee. Silas Deane. Dr. Franklin. James 

Madison 701 

XCVI. — Logan. Leslie's Invasion. Removal of Convention 

Troops 706 

XCVIL— Arnold's Invasion 710 

XCVIIL— Battle of the Cowpens and of Guilford. Phillips and 

Arnold invade Virginia 715 

XCIX. — Cornwallis and La Fayette in Virginia. Nelson, Go- 
vernor 726 

C. — Capture of the Patriot. The Barrons and Captain 

Starlins. Battle of the Barges 738 

CI. — Washington in the North. Cornwallis occupies York- 
town. Battle of Eutaw Springs. Henry Lee. Wash- 
ington invests Yorktown. Cornwallis surrenders 742 



HISTORY OF THE COLONY 

AND 

ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 



CHAPTER I. 



1492-1591. 



Early Voyages of Discovery — Sir Humphrey Gilbert — Walter Raleigh — Expedi- 
tion of Amadas and Barlow — They land on Wocokon Island — Return to Eng- 
land — The New Country named Virginia — Grenville's Expedition — Colony 
of Roanoke — Lane, Governor — The Colony abandoned — Tobacco — Grenville 
returns to Virginia — Leaves a small Colony at Roanoke — Sir Walter Raleigh 
sends out another Expedition — City of Raleigh chartered — White, Governor — 
Roanoke found deserted — Virginia Dare, first Child born in the Colony — 
White returns for Supplies — The Armada — Raleigh assigns the Colony to a 
Company — White returns to Virginia — Finds the Colony extinct — Death of 
Sir Richard Grenville — Gosnold's Voyage to New England. 

The discoveries attributed by legendary story to Madoc, the 
Welsh prince, have afforded a theme for the creations of poetry; 
those of the Northmen of Iceland, better authenticated, still 
engage the dim researches of antiquarian curiosity. To Co- 
lumbus belongs the glory of having made the first certain dis- 
covery of the New World, in the year 1492 ; but it was the good 
fortune of the Cabots to be the first who actually reached the 
main land. In 1497, John Cabot, a Venetian merchant, who 
had become a resident of Bristol in England, with his son Sebas- 
tian, a native of that city, having obtained a patent from Henry 
the Seventh, sailed under his flag and discovered the main con- 
tinent of America, amid the inhospitable rigors of the wintry 
North. It was subsequent to this that Columbus, in his third 
voyage, set his foot on the main land of the South. In the 

2 (17) 



18 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

following year, Sebastian Cabot again crossed the Atlantic, and 
coasted from the fifty-eighth degree of north latitude, along 
the shores of the United States, perhaps as far as to the southern 
boundary of Maryland. Portuguese, French, and Spanish navi- 
gators now visited North America. 

Dreadful circumstances attended the foundation of the ancient 
St. Augustine. The blood of six hundred French Protestant 
refugees has sanctified the ground at the mouth of St. John's 
River, where they were murdered "not as Frenchmen, but as 
heretics," by the ruthless Adelantado of Florida, Pedro Menen- 
dez, in the year 1565. 

In the summer of the ensuing year he sent a captain, with 
thirty soldiers and two Dominican monks, "to the bay of Santa 
Maria, which is in the latitude of thirty-seven degrees," together 
with the Indian brother of the cacique, or chief of Axacan, (who 
had been taken thence by the Dominicans, and baptized at 
Mexico, by the name of the Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco,) to 
settle there, and undertake the conversion of the natives. But 
this expedition sailed to Spain instead of landing. 

This region of Axacan comprised the lower part of the pre- 
sent State of North Carolina. The Spanish sound of the word 
is very near that of Wocokon, the name of the place, according 
to its English pronunciation, where the colony sent out by Raleigh 
subsequently landed.* 

In the year 1570 Father Segura and other Jesuit missionaries, 
accompanied by Don Luis, visited Axacan, but were treacher- 
ously cut off by him. In the same year, or the following, the 
Spaniards repaired to the place of their murder and avenged 
their death. f 

In 1573 Pedro Menendez Morquez, Governor of Florida, ex- 
plored the Bay of Santa Maria, "which is three leagues wide, 

* Memoir on the first discovery of the Chesapeake Bay. Communicated by 
Robert Greenhow, Esq., to the Virginia Historical Society, May, 1848, in Early 
Voyages to America, (edited by Conway Robinson, Esq., and published by the 
Society,) p. 486. Mr. Greenhow cites for authority the Ensayo Chronologico 
Para la Ilistoria de la Florida of Barcia, (Cardenas.) 

f MS. letter of John Gilmary Shea, Esq., author of " History of the Catholic 
Missions among the Indian Tribes of the United States," citing Barcia and Ale- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 19 

and is entered toward the northwest. In the bay are -many 
rivers and harbors on both sides, in which vessels may anchor. 
Within its entrance on the south the depth is from nine to thir- 
teen fathoms, (about five feet nine inches English,) and on the 
north side from five to seven; at two leagues from it in the sea, 
the depth is the same on the north and the south, but there is 
more sand within. In the channel there are from nine to thir- 
teen fathoms ; in the bay fifteen, ten, and six fathoms ; and in 
some places the bottom cannot be reached with the lead." Bar- 
cia describes the voyage of Morquez from Santa Helena " to the 
Bay of Santa Maria, in the latitude of thirty-seven degrees and a 
half,"* and makes particular mention of the shoal running out 
from what is now Cape Lookout, and that near Cape Hatteras, 
the latitude and distances given leaving no doubt but that the 
Bay of Santa Maria is the same with the Chesapeake. f Ten 
years will probably include the period of these early Spanish 
visits to Axacan and the Chesapeake; and these explorations 
appear to have been unknown to the English, and Spain made 
no claim on account of them. Had she set forth any title to 
Virginia, Gondomar would not have failed to urge it, and James 
the First would have been, probably, ready to recognize it. 

In the year 1578 Sir Humphrey Gilbert obtained from Queen 
Elizabeth letters patent, authorizing him to discover and colo- 
nize remote heathen countries unpossessed by any Christian 
prince. After one or two unsuccessful expeditions, Sir Hum- 
phrey again set sail in 1583, from Plymouth, with a fleet of five 
small vessels. The largest of these, the bark Raleigh, was com- 
pelled in two days to abandon the expedition, on account of an 
infectious disease that broke out among the crew. 

After Cabot's discovery, for many years the vessels of various 
flags had frequented the northern part of America for the pur- 
pose of fishing, and when Sir Humphrey reached St. John's 
Harbor, the thirty-six fishing vessels found there at first refused 

* "A 37 grades y medio." Aleganibe says: "Axaca ab aequatore in Boream 
erccta 37°." 

f In a map found in a rare work, in French, dated 1676, entitled "Tourbe 
Ardante," shown me by Townsend Ward, Esq , Librarian of Pennsylvania Hist. 
Society, the Chesapeake is called St. Mary's Bay. 



20 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

hini admittance ; but upon his exhibiting the queen's commission 
they submitted. He then entered the harbor, landed, and took 
formal possession of the country for the crown of England. 

As far as time would admit, some survey of the country was 
made, the principal object of which was the discovery of mines 
and minerals; and the admiral listened with credulity to the 
promises of silver. The company being dispersed abroad, some 
were taken sick and died ; some hid themselves in the woods, and 
others cut one of the vessels out of the harbor and carried her 
off. At length the admiral, having collected as many of his men 
as could be found, and ordered one of his vessels to remain and 
take off the sick, set sail with three vessels, intending to visit 
Cape Breton and the Isle of Sable ; but one of his vessels being 
lost on a sand-bank, he determined to return to England. The 
Squirrel, in which he had embarked for the survey of the coast, 
was very small and heavily laden, yet this intrepid navigator 
persisted in remaining on board of her, notwithstanding the 
urgent entreaties of his friends in the other and larger vessel, 
the Hind ; in reply to which, he declared, that he would not de- 
sert his little crew on the homeward voyage, after having with 
them passed through so many storms and perils. And after 
proceeding three hundred leagues, the little bark, with the admi- 
ral and all her crew, was lost in a storm. When last seen by 
the company of the Hind, Sir Humphrey, although surrounded 
by imminent perils, was seated composedly on the deck with a 
book in his hand, and as often as they approached within hear- 
ing was heard to exclaim: "Be of good cheer, my friends; it is 
as near to heaven by sea as by land." At midnight the lights 
of the little vessel suddenly disappeared, and she was seen no 
more. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was descended from an ancient 
family in Devonshire; his father was Otho Gilbert, Esq., of 
Greenway, and his mother, Catharine, daughter of Sir Philip 
Champernon, of Modbury. He was educated at Oxford, and 
became distinguished for courage, learning, and enterprise. Ap- 
pointed colonel in Ireland, he displayed singular energy and ad- 
dress. In the year 1571 he was a member of the House of 
Commons from Compton, his native place. He strenuously de- 
fended the queen's prerogative against the charge of monopoly, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 21 

alleged by a Puritan member against an exclusive grant made to 
some merchants. He was the author of several publications on 
cosmography and navigation. Having attracted the attention 
of the queen in his boyhood, she at length knighted him, and 
gave him one of her maids of honor in marriage. When he was 
preparing for his voyage she sent him a golden anchor with a 
large pearl at the peak, which he ever after prized as a singular 
honor. Raleigh accompanied this present, which was sent through 
his hands with this letter: "I have sent you a token from her 
majesty — an anchor guided by a lady, as you see; and farther, 
her highness willed me to send you word that she wished you as 
great hap and safety to your ship as if herself were there in 
person, desiring you to have care of yourself as of that which 
she tendereth. Farther, she commandcth that you leave your 
picture with me." 

Not daunted by the fate of his heroic kinsman, Raleigh ad- 
hered to the design of effecting a settlement in America, and 
being now high in the queen's favor, obtained letters patent for 
that purpose, dated March, 1584. Aided by some gentlemen 
and merchants, particularly by his gallant kinsman Sir Richard 
Grenville, and Mr. William Sanderson, who had married his 
niece, Raleigh succeeded in providing two small vessels. These 
were put under the command of Captains Philip Amadas and 
Arthur Barlow. Barlow had already served with distinction 
under Raleigh in Ireland. The two vessels left the Thames in 
April, 1584, and pursuing the old circuitous route by the Cana- 
ries, reached the West Indies. After a short stay there they 
sailed north, and early in July, as they approached the coast of 
Florida, the mariners were regaled with the odors of flowers 
wafted from the fragrant shore. Amadas and Barlow, proceed- 
ing one hundred and twenty miles farther, landed on the Island 
of Wocokon, in the stormy region of Cape Hatteras, one of a 
long series of narrow, low, sandy islands — breakwaters apparently 
designed by nature to defend the mainland from the fury of the 
ocean. The English took possession of the country in the queen's 
name. The valleys were wooded with tall cedars, overrun with 
vines hung in graceful festoons, the grapes clustering in rich pro- 
fusion on the ground and trailing in the murmuring surges of the 



22 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

sea. For two days no inhabitant was seen; on the third a canoe 
with three men approached, one of whom was readily persuaded 
to come on board, and some presents gained his confidence. 
Going away, he began to fish, and having loaded his canoe, re- 
turned, and dividing his cargo into two parts, signified that one 
was for the ship, the other for the pinnace. On the next day 
they were visited by some canoes, in which were forty or fifty 
men, among whom was Granganameo, the king's brother. The 
king Wingina himself lay at his chief town, six miles distant, 
confined by wounds received in a recent battle. At this town 
the English were hospitably entertained by Granganameo's wife. 
She was small, pretty, and bashful, clothed in a leathern mantle 
with the fur turned in; her long dark hair restrained by a band 
of white coral; strings of beads hung from her ears and reached 
to her waist. The manners of the natives were composed; their 
disposition seemed gentle; presents and traffic soon conciliated 
their good will. The country was called Wingandacoa.* The 
soil was productive; the air mild and salubrious; the forests 
abounded with a variety of sweet-smelling trees, and oaks supe- 
rior in size to those of England. Fruits, melons, nuts, and 
esculent roots were observed; the woods were stocked with game, 
and the waters with innumerable fish and wild-fowl. 

After having discovered the Island of Roanoke on Albemarle 
Sound, and explored as much of the interior as their time would 
permit, Amadas and Barlow sailed homeward, accompanied by 
two of the natives, Manteo and "Wanchese. Queen Elizabeth, 
charmed with the glowing descriptions of the new country, which 
the enthusiastic adventurers gave her on their return, named it, 
in allusion to her own state of life, VIRGINIA. As hitherto 
all of North America as far as discovered was called Florida, so 
henceforth all that part of it lying between thirty-four and forty- 
five degrees of north latitude came to be styled Virginia, till 
gradually by different settlements it acquired different names. f 

Raleigh was shortly after returned to Parliament from the 
County of Devon, and about the same time knighted. The queen 

* Wingan signifies "good." 

-j- Smith's History of Virginia, i. 79. Stith's History of Virginia, 11. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 23 

granted him a patent to license the vending of wines throughout 
the kingdom. Such a monopoly was part of the arbitrary system 
of that day. Nor was Sir Walter unconscious of its injustice, 
for when, some years afterwards, a spirit of resistance to it 
showed itself in the House of Commons and a member was 
warmly inveighing against it, Sir Walter was observed to blush. 
He voted afterwards for the abolition of such monopolies, and no 
one could have made a more munificent use of such emoluments 
than he did in his efforts to effect the discovery and colonization 
of Virginia. He fitted out, in 1585, a fleet for that purpose, and 
entrusted the command to his relative, Sir Richard Grenville. 
This gallant officer, like Cervantes, shared in the famous battle of 
Lepanto, and after distinguishing himself by his conduct during 
the Irish rebellion, had become a conspicuous member of Parlia- 
ment. He was accompanied by Thomas Cavendish, afterwards 
renowned as a circumnavigator of the globe; Thomas Hariot, a 
friend of Raleigh and a profound mathematician; and John 
Withe, an artist, whose pencil supplied materials for the illustra- 
tion of the works of De Bry and Beverley. Late in June the 
fleet anchored at Wocokon, but that situation being too much ex- 
posed to the dangers of the sea, they proceeded through Ocra- 
cock Inlet to the Island of Roanoke, (at the mouth of Albemarle 
Sound,) which they selected as the seat of the colony. The 
colonists, one hundred and eight in number, were landed there. 
Manteo, who had returned with them, had already been sent 
from Wocokon to announce their arrival to his king, Wingina. 
Grenville, accompanied by Lane, Hariot, Cavendish and others, 
explored the coast for eighty miles southward, to the town of Se- 
cotan, in the present County of Craven, North Carolina. During 
this excursion the Indians, at a village called Aquascogoc, stole 
a silver cup, and a boat being dispatched to reclaim it, the terri- 
fied inhabitants fled to the Avoods, and the English, regardless 
alike of prudence and humanity, burned the town and destroyed 
the standing corn. Grenville in a short time re-embarked for 
England with a valuable cargo of furs, and on his voyage cap- 
tured a rich Spanish prize. 

Lane extended his discoveries to the northward, as far as the 
town of Chesapeakes, on Elizabeth River, near where Norfolk 



24 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

stands, and about one hundred and thirty miles from the Island 
of Roanoke. The Chowan River was also explored, and the 
Roanoke, then known below the falls as the Moratoc. Lane, 
although a good soldier, seems to have wanted some of the quali- 
ties indispensable in the founder of a new plantation. The In- 
dians grew more hostile; conspiracies were entered into for the 
destruction of the whites, and the rash and bloody measures em- 
ployed to defeat their machinations aggravated the mischief. 
The colonists, filled with alarm, became impatient to escape from 
a scene of so many privations and so much danger. Owing to a 
scarcity of provisions, Lane distributed the colonists at several 
places. At length Captain Stafford, who was stationed at Croa- 
tan, near Cape Lookout, descried twenty-three sail, which proved 
to be Sir Francis Drake's fleet. He was returning from a long 
cruise — belligerent, privateering, and exploratory — and, in obe- 
dience to the queen's orders, now visited the Colony of Virginia 
to render any necessary succor. Upon learning the condition of 
affairs, he agreed to furnish Lane with vessels and supplies suffi- 
cient to complete the discovery of the country and to insure a 
safe return home, should that alternative be found necessary. 
Just at this time a violent storm, raging for four days, dispersed 
and shattered the fleet, and drove out to sea the vessels that had 
been assigned to Lane. The tempest at length subsiding, Drake 
generously offered Lane another vessel with supplies. But the 
harbor not being of sufficient depth to admit the vessel, the go- 
vernor, acquiescing in the unanimous desire of the colonists, re- 
quested permission for them all to embark in the fleet, and return 
to England. The request was granted; and thus ended the first 
actual settlement of the English in America. 

During the year which the colony had passed at Roanoke, 
Withe had made drawings from nature illustrative of the appear- 
ance and habits of the natives; and ITariot had accurately ob- 
served the soil and productions of the country, and the manners 
and customs of the natives, an account of which he afterwards 
published, entitled, "A briefe and true report of the new found 
land of Virginia." He (Lane) and some others of the colonists 
learned from the Indians the use of a narcotic plant called by 
them uppowoc; by the English tobacco. The natives smoked it; 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 25 

sprinkled the dust of it on their fishing weirs, to make tliem for- 
tunate; burned it in sacrifices to appease the anger of the gods, 
and scattered it in the air and on the water to allay the fury of 
the tempest. Lane carried some tobacco to England, supposed 
by Camden to have been the first ever introduced into that king- 
dom. Sir Walter Raleigh, by his example, soon rendered the use 
of this seductive leaf fashionable at court; and his tobacco-box 
and pipes were long preserved by the curiosity of antiquaries. 
It is related, that having offered Queen Elizabeth some tobacco 
to smoke, after two or three whiffs she was seized with a nausea, 
upon observing which some of the Earl of Leicester's faction 
whispered that Sir Walter had certainly poisoned her. But her 
majesty in a short while recovering, made the Countess of Not- 
tingham and all her maids smoke a whole pipe out among them. 
It is also said that Sir Walter made a wager with the queen, that 
he could calculate the weight of the smoke evaporated from a 
pipeful of tobacco. This he easily won by weighing first the to- 
bacco, and then the ashes, when the queen acknowledged that the 
difference must have gone off in smoke. Upon paying the wager, 
she gayly remarked, that "she had heard of many workers in the 
fire who had turned their gold into smoke, but that Sir Walter 
was the first that had turned his smoke into gold." Another 
familiar anecdote is, that a country servant of Raleigh's, bringing 
him a tankard of ale and nutmeg into his study as he was in- 
tently reading and smoking, was so alarmed at seeing clouds of 
smoke issuing from his master's mouth, that, throwing the ale into 
his face, he ran down stairs crying out that Sir Walter was on fire. 
Sir Walter Raleigh never visited Virginia himself, although it 

o o o 

has been so represented by several writers. Hariot's "Report of 
the new found land" was translated by a Frenchman * into Latin, 
and this translation refers to those "qui generosum D. Walterum 
Raleigh in earn regionem comitati sunt." The error of the trans- 
lator in employing the words "comitati sunt," has been pointed 
out by Stith, and that error probably gave rise to the mistake 
which has been handed down from age to age, and is still preva- 
lent. A few days after Drake's departure, a vessel arrived at 

* De Bry. 



26 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Roanoke with supplies for the colony; but finding it abandoned, 
she set sail for England. Within a fortnight afterwards, Sir 
Richard Grenville, with three relief vessels fitted out principally 
by Raleigh, arrived off Virginia; and, unwilling that the English 
should lose possession of the country, he left fifteen men on the 
island, with provisions for two years. These repeated disappoint- 
ments did not abate Raleigh's indomitable resolution. During 
the ensuing year he sent out a new expedition of three vessels to 
establish a colony chartered by the title of "The Governor and 
Assistants of the City of Raleigh in Virginia." John White was 
sent out as governor with twelve counsellors, and they were 
directed to plant themselves at the town of Chesapeakes, on 
Elizabeth River. Reaching Roanoke near the end of July, White 
found the colony deserted, the bones of a man scattered on the 
beach, the fort razed, and deer couching in the desolate houses 
or feeding on the rank vegetation which had overgrown the floor 
and crept up the walls. Raleigh's judicious order, instructing 
White to establish himself on the banks of Elizabeth River, was not 
carried into effect, owing to the refusal of Ferdinando, the naval- 
officer, to co-operate in exploring the country for that purpose. 

One of the English having been slain by the savages, a party 
was dispatched to avenge his death, and by mistake unfortunately 
killed several of a friendly tribe. Manteo, by Raleigh's direc- 
tion, was christened, and created Lord of Roanoke and Dassa- 
monpeake. On the eighteenth of August, the governor's daughter, 
Eleanor, wife to Ananias Dare, one of the council, gave birth to 
a daughter, the first Christian child born in the country, and 
hence named Virginia. Dissensions soon arose among the set- 
tlers; and, although not in want of stores, some, disappointed in 
not finding the new country a paradise of indolent felicity, as 
they had fondly anticipated, demanded permission to return 
home; others vehemently opposed; at length all joined in re- 
questing White to sail for England, and to return thence with 
supplies. To this he reluctantly consented; and setting sail in 
August, 1587, from Roanoke, where he left eighty-nine men, 
seventeen women, and eleven children, he arrived in England on 
the fifth of November. 

He found the kingdom wholly engrossed in taking measures of 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 27 

defence against the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada, 
and Raleigh, Grenville, and Lane assisting Elizabeth in her coun- 
cil of war — a conjuncture most unpropitious to the interests of 
the infant colony. Raleigh, nevertheless, found time even in this 
portentous crisis of public affairs to dispatch White with supplies 
in two vessels. But these, running after prizes, encountered 
privateers, and, after a bloody engagement, one of them was so 
disabled and plundered that White was compelled to put back to 
England, while it was impossible to refit, owing to the urgency of 
more important matters. But, even after the destruction of the 
Armada, Sir Walter Raleigh found it impracticable to prosecute 
any further his favorite design of establishing a colony in Vir- 
ginia ; and in 1589 he formed a company of merchants and adven- 
turers, and assigned to it his proprietary rights. This corporation 
included among its members Thomas Smith, a wealthy London 
merchant, afterwards knighted; and Richard Hakluyt, dean of 
Westminster, the compiler of a celebrated collection of voyages. 
He is said to have visited Virginia, and Stith gives it as his 
opinion that he must have come over in one of the last-mentioned 
abortive expeditions. Raleigh, at the time of making this assign- 
ment, gave a hundred pounds for propagating Christianity among 
the natives of Virginia. After experiencing a long series of 
vexations, difficulties, and disappointments, he had expended forty 
thousand pounds in fruitless efforts for planting a colony in Vir- 
ginia. At length, disengaged from this enterprise, he indulged 
his martial genius, and bent all his energies against the colossal 
ambition of Spain, who now aspired to overshadow the world. 

More than another year was suffered to elapse before White 
returned to search for the long-neglected colony. He had now 
been absent from it for three years, and felt the solicitude not 
only of a governor, but also of a parent. Upon his departure from 
Roanoke it had been concerted between him and the settlers, that 
if they should abandon that island for another seat, they should 
carve the name of the place to which they should remove on 
some conspicuous object; and if they should go away in distress, 
a cross should be carved above the name. Upon his arrival at 
Roanoke, White found not one of the colonists; the houses had 
been dismantled and a fort erected ; goods had been buried in the 



28 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

earth, and in part disinterred and scattered; on a post within the 
fort the word CROATAN was carved, without a cross above it. 
The weather proving stormy, some of White's company were lost 
by the capsizing of a boat ; the stock of provisions grew scanty ; 
and no further search was then made. Raleigh, indeed, sent out 
parties in quest of them at five different times, the last in 1602, 
at his own charge ; but not one of them made any search for the 
unfortunate colonists. None of them were ever found; and 
whether they perished by famine, or the Indian tomahawk, was 
left a subject of sad conjecture. The site of the colony was un- 
fortunate, being difficult of access, and near the stormy Cape 
Hatteras, whose very name is synonymous with peril and ship- 
wreck. Thus, after many nobly planned but unhappily executed 
expeditions, and enormous expense of treasure and life, the first 
plantation of Virginia became extinct. 

In the year 1591 Sir Richard Grenville fell, in a bloody action 
with a Spanish fleet near the Azores. Mortally wounded, he was 
removed on board one of the enemy's ships, and in two days died. 
In the hour of his death he said, in the Spanish language, to 
those around him : "Here I, Richard Grenville, die with a joyous 
and quiet mind, for that I have ended my life as a true soldier 
ought to do, fighting for his country, queen, religion, and honor, 
my soul willingly departing from this body, leaving behind the 
lasting fame of having behaved as every valiant soldier is in his 
duty bound to do." His dying words may recall to mind the 
familiar verses of Campbell's Lochiel : — 

" And leaving in death no blot on my name, 
Look proudly to heaven for a death-bed of fame." 

Sir Richard Grenville was, next to his kinsman, Sir Walter 
Raleigh, the principal person concerned in the first settlement of 
Virginia. 

In 1602, the forty-third and last year of the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, deviating from the 
usual oblique route by the Canaries and the West Indies, made a 
direct voyage in a small bark across the Atlantic, and in seven 
weeks reached Massachusetts Bay. It was on this occasion that 
Englishmen, for the first time, landed on the soil of New Eng- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 29 

land. Gosnold returned to England in a short passage of five 
weeks. In these early voyages the heroism of the navigators is 
the more admirable when we advert to the extremely diminutive 
size of their vessels and the comparative imperfection of nautical 
science at that day. Encouraged by Gosnold's success, the 
mayor, aldermen, and merchants of Bristol sent out an expedi- 
tion under Captain Pring, in the same direction, in 1603, the 
year of the accession of James I. to the throne. During the 
same year a bark was dispatched from London under Captain 
Bartholomew Gilbert, who fell in with the coast in latitude 37°, 
and, as some authors say, ran up into the Chesapeake Bay, where 
the captain and four of his men were slain by the Indians. 

In 1605 Captain Weymouth came over under the auspices of 
Henry, Earl of Southampton, and Lord Thomas Arundel. 



CHAPTER II. 



15TD-1604. 



Early Life and Adventures of Captain John Smith — Born at Willoughby — At 
Thirteen Years of Age undertakes to go to Sea — At Fifteen Apprentice to a 
Merchant — Visits France — Studies the Military Art — Serves in the Low 
Countries — Repairs to Scotland — Returns to Willoughby — Studies and Exer- 
cises — Adventures in France — Embarks for Italy — Thrown into the Sea — His 
Escape — Joins the Austrians in the Wars with the Turks — His Gallantry — 
Combat with Three Turks — Made Prisoner at Rottenton — His Sufferings and 
Escape — Voyages aud Travels — Returns to England. 

In 1606 measures were taken in England for planting another 
colony; but preliminary to a relation of the settlement of Vir- 
ginia proper, it is necessary to give some history of Captain John 
Smith, "the father of the colony." He was born at Willoughby, 
in Lincolnshire, England, in 1579, being descended on his 
father's side from an ancient family of Crudley, in Lancashire; 
on his mother's, from the Rickands at Great Heck, in York- 
shire. After having been some time a scholar at the free schools of 
Alford and Louth, when aged thirteen, his mind being bent upon 
bold adventures, he sold his satchel, books, and all he had, in- 
tending to go privately to sea; but his father's death occurring 
just then prevented the execution of that scheme. Having some 
time before lost his mother, he was now left an orphan, with a 
competent hereditary estate, which, being too young to receive, 
he little regarded. At fifteen he was bound apprentice to 
Thomas Sendall, of Lynn, the greatest merchant of all those 
parts ; but in a short time, disgusted with the monotony of that 
life, he quit it, and accompanied a son of Lord Willoughby to 
France. Within a month or six weeks, he was dismissed, his 
service being needless, with an allowance of money to take him 
back to England; but he determined not to return. At Paris, 
meeting with a Scottish gentleman, David Hume, he received 
from him an additional supply of money and letters, which might 
recommend him to the favor of James the Sixth of Scotland. 
(30) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 31 

Young Smith, proceeding to Rouen, and finding his money nearly 
all gone, made his way to Havre de Grace, and there began to 
learn the military art, during the reign of the warlike Henry 
the Fourth. From France the adventurer went to the Low 
Countries, where he served for four years under the standard of 
the patriot army against Spain, in the war that eventuated in 
their independence. Embarking thence for Scotland, with the 
letters of recommendation previously given to him, and after 
suifering shipwreck and illness, Smith at length reached Scot- 
land, where he was hospitably entertained "by those honest Scots 
at Kipweth and Broxmouth," but finding himself without money 
or means to make himself a courtier, he returned to his native 
place, Willoughby. Here he soon grew weary of much company; 
and indulging a romantic taste, retired into a forest, and in its 
recesses, near a pretty brook, he built for himself a pavilion of 
boughs, where he studied Machiavel's Art of War, and Marcus 
Aurelius, and amused his leisure by riding, throwing the lance, 
and hunting. His principal food was venison, which he thus 
provided for himself, like Shakespeare, with but little regard for 
the game-laws; and whatever else he needed was brought to him 
by his servant. The country people wondered at the hermit; 
and his friends persuaded an Italian gentleman, rider to the Earl 
of Lincoln, to visit him in his retreat ; and thus he was induced 
to return to the world, and after spending a short time with this 
new acquaintance at Tattersall's, Smith now repaired a second 
time to the Low Countries. Having made himself sufficiently 
master of horsemanship, and the use of arms and the rudiments 
of war, he resolved to go and try his fortunes against the Turks, 
having long witnessed with pain the spectacle of so many Chris- 
tians engaged in slaughtering one another. 

Proceeding to St. Valery, in France, by collusion between the 
master of the vessel and some French gallants, his trunks were 
plundered there in the night, and he was forced to sell his cloak 
to pay for his passage. The other passengers expressed their in- 
dignation against this villany, and one of them, a French soldier, 
generously supplied his immediate necessities, and invited Smith 
to accompany him to his home in Normandy. Here he was 
kindly welcomed by his companion and the Prior of the ancient 



32 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

abbey of St. Stephen, (where repose the remains of "William the 
Conqueror,) and others; and the story of his misfortunes reach- 
ing the' ears of some noble lords and ladies, they replenished his 
purse; and he might have enjoyed their hospitality as long as he 
pleased, but this suited not his restless, energetic and indepen- 
dent spirit. Wandering now from port to port in quest of a 
man-of-war, he experienced some extraordinary turns of fortune. 
Passing one day through a forest, his money being spent, worn 
out with distress of mind, and cold, he threw himself on the 
ground, at the side of a fountain of water, under a tree, scarce 
hoping ever to rise again. A farmer finding him in this condi- 
tion, relieved his necessities, and enabled him to pursue his jour- 
ney. Not long afterwards, meeting in a grove one of the gallants 
who had robbed him, without a word on either side, they drew 
their swords, and fought in view of the inmates of a neighboring 
antique ruinous tower. In a short while the Frenchman fell, and, 
making confessions and excuses, Smith, although himself wounded, 
spared his life. Directing his course now to the residence of " the 
Earl of Ployer," with whom he had become acquainted while in 
the French service, he was by him better refurnished than ever. 
After visiting many parts of France and Navarre, he came to 
Marseilles, where he embarked for Italy, in a vessel carrying a 
motley crowd of pilgrims of divers nations, bound for Rome. 
The winds proving unfavorable, the vessel was obliged to put in 
at Toulon, and sailing thence the weather grew so stormy that 
they anchored close to the Isle of St. Mary, opposite Nice, in 
Savoy. Here the unfeeling provincials and superstitious pilgrims 
showered imprecations on Smith's head, stigmatizing him as a 
Huguenot, and his nation as all pirates, and Queen Elizabeth as 
a heretic; and, protesting that they should never have fair 
weather as long as he was on board, they cast him into the sea 
to propitiate heaven. However, he swam to the Islet of St. 
Mary, which he found inhabited by a few cattle and goats. On 
the next day he was taken up by a privateering French ship, the 
captain of which, named La Roche, proving to be a neighbor and 
friend of the Earl of Ployer, entertained him kindly. With him, 
Smith visited Alexandria in Egypt, Scanderoon, the Archipelago, 
and coast of Greece. At the mouth of the Adriatic Sea, a Ve- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 33 

netian argosy, richly laden, was captured and plundered, after a 
desperate action, in which Smith appears to have participated. 
He landed in Piedmont with five hundred sequins and a box of 
jewels, worth about as much more — his share of the prize. Em- 
barking for Leghorn, he travelled in Italy, and here met with 
his friends, Lord Willoughby and his brother, both severely 
wounded in a recent bloody fray. Going to Rome, Smith sur- 
veyed the wonders of the Imperial City, and saw the Pope, with 
the cardinals, ascend the holy staircase, and say mass in the 
Church of St. John de Lateran. Leaving Rome, he made the 
tour of Italy, and embarking at Venice, crossed over to the wild 
regions of Albania and Dalmatia. Passing through sterile Scla- 
vonia, he found his way to Gratz, in Styria, the residence of the 
Archduke Ferdinand, afterwards Emperor of Germany. Here 
he met with an Englishman and an Irish Jesuit, by whose assist- 
ance he was enabled to join a regiment of artillery, commanded 
by Count Meldritch, whom he accompanied to Vienna, and 
thence to the seat of war. At this time, 1601, there was a bloody 
war going on between Germany and the Turks, and the latter 
had gained many signal advantages, and the Crescent, flushed 
with victory, was rapidly encroaching upon the confines of Chris- 
tendom. Canissia having just fallen, it was at the siege of Olym- 
pach, beleaguered by the Turks, that Smith first had an oppor- 
tunity of displaying the resources of his military genius, for 
which he was put in command of two hundred and fifty horse. 

That siege being raised, after some interval of suspended hos- 
tilities, the Christian forces, in their turn, besieged Stowle Wes- 
senburg, which soon fell into their hands. Mahomet the Third, 
hearing of this disaster, dispatched a formidable army to re- 
trieve or avenge it ; and in the bloody battle that ensued on the 
plains of Girke, Smith had a horse shot under him, and was 
badly wounded. At the siege of Regal he encountered and slew, 
in a tournament, three several Turkish champions, Turbashaw, 
Grualgo, and Bonny Mulgro. For these exploits he was honored 
with a triumphal procession, in which the three Turks' heads 
were borne on lances. A horse richly caparisoned was presented 
to him, with a cimeter and belt worth three hundred ducats ; and 
he was promoted to the rank of major. 

3 



34 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

In the bloody battle of Rottenton, lie was wounded and made 
prisoner. With such of the prisoners as escaped massacre, he 
was sold into slavery at Axiopolis, and fell into the hands of the 
Bashaw Bogall, who sent him, by way of Adrianople, to Constan- 
tinople, a present to his youthful mistress, Charatza Tragabig- 
zanda. Captivated with her prisoner, she treated him tenderly ; 
and to prevent his being sold again, sent him to remain for a 
time with her brother, the Tymour Bashaw of Nalbritz, in Tar- 
tary, who occupied a stone castle near the Sea of Azof. Imme- 
diately on Smith's arrival, his head was shaved, an iron collar 
riveted on his neck, and he was clothed in hair-cloth. Here long 
he suffered cruel bondage ; at length one day, while threshing in 
a barn, the Bashaw having beaten and reviled him, he turned 
and slew him on the spot, with the threshing bat ; then put on 
his clothes, hid his body in the straw, filled a sack with corn, 
closed the doors, mounted the Bashaw's horse, and rode off. 
After wandering for some days, he fell in with a highway, and 
observing that the roads leading toward Russia were indicated 
by a cross, he followed that sign, and in sixteen days reached 
Ecopolis, a Russian frontier post on the Don. The governor 
there took off his irons, and he was kindly treated by him and 
his wife, the lady Callamata. Traversing Russia and Poland, he 
returned to Transylvania in December, 1603, where he met many 
friends, and enjoyed so much happiness that nothing less than 
his desire to revisit his native country could have torn him away. 

Proceeding through Hungary, Moravia, and Bohemia, he went 
to Leipsic, where he found Prince Sigismund, who gave him fif- 
teen hundred golden ducats to repair his losses. Travelling 
through Germany, France, and Spain, from Gibraltar ho sailed 
for Tangier, in Africa, and to the City of Morocco. Taking 
passage in a French man-of-war, he was present in a terrible sea- 
fight with two Spanish ships; and after touching at Santa Cruz, 
Cape Goa, and Mogadore, he finally returned to England in 
1604.* 



* " The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captain John Smith," 
in his History of Virginia. Hillard's Life of Smith, in Sparks' American Bio- 
graphy. Simms' Life of Smith. 



CHAPTER III. 

160(3-1608. 

Gosnold, Smith, and others set on foot another Expedition — James I. issues Let- 
ters Patent — Instructions for Government of the Colony — Charter granted to 
London Company for First Colony of Virginia — Sir Thomas Smith, Treasurer 
— Government of the Colony — Three Vessels under Newport sail for Virginia 
— The Voyage — Enter Chesapeake Bay — Ascend the James River — The Eng- 
lish entertained by the Chief of the Quiqoughcohanocks — Landing at James- 
town — Wingfield, President — Smith excluded from the Council — Newport and 
Smith explore the James to the Falls — Powhatan — Jamestown assaulted by 
Indians — Smith's Voyages up the Chickahominy — Murmurs against him — 
Again explores the Chickahominy — Made prisoner — Carried captive through 
the country — Taken to Werowocomoco — Rescued by Pocahontas — Returns to 
Jamestown — Fire there — Rev. Mr. Hunt — Rage for Gold-hunting — Newport 
visits Powhatan — Newport's Departure — Affairs at Jamestown. 

Bartholomew Gosnold was the prime mover, and Captain 
John Smith the chief actor, in the settlement,of Virginia. Gos- 
nold, who had already, in 1602, made a voyage to the northern 
parts of Virginia, afterwards called New England, for many years 
fruitlessly labored to set on foot an expedition for effecting an 
actual settlement. At length he was reinforced in his efforts by 
Captain Smith; Edward Maria Wingfield, a merchant; Robert 
Hunt, a clergyman, and others; and by their united exertions 
certain of the nobility, gentry, and merchants, became interested 
in the project, and King James the First, who, as has been before 
mentioned, had, in 1603, succeeded Elizabeth, was induced to lend 
it his countenance. April 10th, 1606, letters patent were issued, 
authorizing the establishment of two colonies in Virginia and 
other parts of America. All the country from 34° to 45° of 
north latitude, then known as Virginia, was divided into two 
colonies, the First or Southern, and the Second or Northern. 

The plantation of the Southern colony was intrusted to Sir 
Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers, knights; Richard Hack- 
luyt, clerk, prebendary of Westminster; Edward Maria Wing- 
field, and others, mostly resident in London. This company was 

(35) ' 



36 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

authorized to plant a colony wherever they might choose between 
34° and 41° of north latitude; and the king vested in them a 
right of property in the land extending along the sea-coast fifty 
statute miles on each side of the place of their first plantation, 
and reaching into the interior one hundred miles from the sea- 
coast, together with all islands within one hundred miles of their 
shores. The Second, or Northern colony of Virginia, was in like 
manner intrusted to Thomas Hanham, and others, mostly resi- 
dents of Bristol, Exeter, and Plymouth. These were authorized 
to plant a colony wherever they might choose between 38° and 
45° of north latitude, and he gave to them a territory of similar 
limits and extent to that given to the first colony. He provided, 
however, that the plantation of whichever of the said two colo- 
nies should be last effected, should not be within one hundred 
miles of the other that might be first established. The company 
of the Southern colony came to be distinguished as the London 
company, and, the other as the Plymouth company. But event- 
ually these names were dropped; and the name of Virginia, 
which had been at first common to the two colonies, was appro- 
priated to the Southern colony only ; Avhile the Northern colony 
was now called New England.* 

In the charter granted to Sir Thomas Gates and his associates, 
it was provided that the colony should have a council of its own, 
subject to a superior council in England. The subordinate coun- 
cil was authorized to search for and dig mines, coin money, carry 
over adventurers, and repel intruders. The president and council 
were authorized to levy duties on foreign commodities ; the colo- 
nists were invested with all the rights and privileges of English 
subjects, and the lands granted to settlers in free and common 
soccage.f 

On the 20th of November, 1606, instructions were given by 
the crown for the government of the two colonies, directing that 
the council in England should be appointed by the crown; the 
local council by the superior one in England; the local one to 



* See charter in Stith's Hist, of Va., Appendix; "Notes as to the Limits of 
Virginia," by Littleton Waller Tazewell, in Va. Hist. Register, No. 1. 
| Hening's Statutes at Large, i. 57. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 37 

choose a president annually from its own body; the Christian 
religion to be preached ; lands to descend as in England ; trial 
by jury secured in criminal causes ; and the council empowered 
to determine all civil actions ; all produce and goods imported to 
be stored in magazines ; a clerk and treasurer, or cape-merchant, 
to be appointed for the colony. The stockholders, styled adven- 
turers, were authorized to organize a company for the manage- 
ment of the business of the colony, and to superintend the pro- 
ceedings of the local council. The colonists were enjoined to 
treat the natives kindly, and to endeavor by all means to convert 
them to Christianity.* Sir Thomas Smith was appointed trea- 
surer of the company, and the chief management of their aifairs 
intrusted to him. He was an eminent London merchant ; had 
been chief of Sir Walter Raleigh's assignees ; was about this 
time governor of the East India Company, and had been ambas- 
sador to Russia. f 

The frame of government thus provided for the new colony was 
cumbrous and complicated, the legislative and administrative 
powers being so distributed between the local council, the crown, 
and the company, as to involve the danger of delays, uncertainty, 
conflict, and irresponsibility. By the words of the charter the 
colonists were invested with the rights of Englishmen ; yet, as far 
as political rights were concerned, there being no security pro- 
vided by which they could be vindicated, they might often prove 
to be of no more real value than the parchment on which they 
were written. However, the government of such an infant colony 
must, of necessity, have been for the most part arbitrary ; the 
political rights of the colonists must, for a time, have lain in 
abeyance. Their civil rights were protected in criminal causes 
by the trial by jury, and lands were to be held by a free tenure. 

At length three vessels were fitted out for the expedition, one 
of twenty tons, one of forty, the third of one hundred tons, and 
they were put under the command of Captain Christopher New- 
port, a navigator experienced in voyages to the New World. 
Orders being put on board inclosed in a sealed box, not to be 
opened until their arrival in Virginia, they set sail from Black- 

* Hen. G7 ; Stith, 36, and in Appendix. f Stith, 42. 



38 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

wall on the 19th of December, 1606. For six weeks they were 
detained by headwinds and stormy weather in the Downs, within 
view of the English coast, and during this interval, disorder, 
threatening a mutiny, prevailed among the adventurers. How- 
ever, it was suppressed by the interposition of the clergyman, 
Robert Hunt. The winds at length proving favorable, the little 
fleet proceeded along the old route by the Canaries, which they 
reached about the twenty-first of April, and on the twenty-sixth 
sailed for the West Indies, upon arriving at which it appears 
that Captain Smith was actually in command of the expedition, 
for,* writing afterwards in 1629, he says: "Because I have 
ranged and lived among those islands, what my authors cannot 
tell me, I think it no great error in helping them to tell it myself. 
In this little Isle of Mevis, more than twenty years ago, I have 
remained a good time together, to wood and water, and refresh 
my men." This isle was, on this occasion, the scene of a re- 
markable incident in his life, and one which appears to have 
escaped the notice of our historians. "Such factions here we 
had as commonly attend such voyages, that a pair of gallows was 
made ; but Captain Smith, for whom they were intended, could 
not be persuaded to use them. But not any of the inventors but 
their lives by justice fell into his power to determine of at his 
pleasure, whom, with much mercy, he favored, that most basely 
and unjustly would have betrayed him." 

After passing three weeks in the West Indies they sailed in 
quest of Roanoke Island, and having exceeded their reckoning 
three days without finding land, the crew grew impatient, and 
Ratcliffe, captain of the pinnace, proposed to steer back for 
England. 

At this conjuncture a violent storm, compelling them to scud 
all night under bare poles, providentially drove them into the 
mouth of Chesapeake Bay. The first land that they came in 
sight of, April 26th, 1607, they called Cape Henry, in honor of 
the Prince of Wales, eldest son of King James, as the opposite 
point, Cape Charles, was named after the king's second son, then 
Duke of York, afterwards Charles the First. A party of twenty 

* Smith's Hist, of Va., ii. 276. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIKGINIA. 89 

or thirty, with Newport, landing here, found a variety of pretty 
flowers and goodly trees. While recreating themselves on the 
shore they were attacked by five of the savages, who came creep- 
ing upon all-fours from the hills like bears, and with their arrows 
wounded two, but retired at the discharge of muskets.* 

That night the sealed box was opened, when it appeared that 
the members of council appointed were — Bartholomew Gosnold, 
John Smith, Edward Maria Wingfield, Christopher Newport, 
John Ratcliffe, John Martin and George Kendall. They were 
instructed to elect, out of their own number, a president for one 
year ; he and the council together were invested with the govern- 
ment; affairs of moment were to be examined by a jury, but de- 
termined by the council. 

Seventeen days were spent in quest of a place for the settle- 
ment. A point on the western side of the mouth of the Chesa- 
peake Bay they named Point Comfort, because they found a good 
harbor there, which, after the recent storm, put them in good 
comfort. Landing there, April 30th, they saw five Indians, who 
were at first alarmed; but seeing the captain lay his hand upon 
his heart, they came boldly up and invited the strangers to 
Kecoughtan, now Hampton, their town, where they were enter- 
tained with corn-bread, tobacco and pipes, and a dance. May 
4th, the explorers were kindly received by the Paspaheghs. 
The chief of a neighboring tribe sent a guide to conduct the 
English strangers to his habitation. Percy calls them the Rap- 
pahannas; but as no such tribe is mentioned by Smith as being 
near the James River, they were probably the Quiqoughco- 
hanocks, who dwelled on the north side of the river, about ten 
miles above Jamestown. f Upon the arrival of the English this 
chief stood on the bank of the river to meet them, when they 
landed, "with all his train," says Percy, "as goodly men as any 
I have seen of savages, or Christians, the Werowance [chief] 
coming before them, playing on a flute made of a reed, with a 

* Narrative (in Purchas' Pilgrims, iv. 1685,) by George Percy, brother of tlie 
Earl of Northumberland, and one of the first expedition. See Ilillard's Life of 
Smith in Sparks' Amer. Biog., 211 and 214 in note. (Hillard in the main fol- 
lows Stith.) Smith's Newes from Virginia. 

f Smith, i. 140-41. 



40 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

crown of deer's hair, colored red, in fashion of a rose, fastened 
about his knot of hair, and a great plate of copper on the other 
side of his head, with two long feathers, in fashion of a pair of 
horns, placed in the midst of his crown. His body was painted 
all with crimson, with a chain of beads about his neck ; his face 
painted blue, besprinkled with silver ore, as we thought ; his ears 
all behung with bracelets of pearl, and in either ear a bird's claw 
through it, beset with fine copper or gold. He entertained us in 
so modest a proud fashion, as though he had been a prince of 
civil government, holding his countenance without laughter, or 
any such ill behavior. He caused his mat to be spread on the 
ground, where he sate down with a great majesty, taking a pipe 
of tobacco, the rest of his company standing about him. After 
he had rested awhile he rose, and made signs to us to come to his 
town: he went foremost, and all the rest of his people and our- 
"selves followed him up a steep hill, where his palace was settled. 
We passed through the woods in fine paths having most pleasant 
springs, which issued from the mountains [hills.] We also went 
through the goodliest corn-fields that ever were seen in any 
country. When we came to Rappohanna town, he entertained 
us in good humanity." While this hospitable, unsophisticated 
chief was piping a welcome to the English strangers, how little 
did he anticipate the tragic scenes of war and blood which were 
so soon to ensue ! 

On the 8th of May the English went farther up the river to 
the country of the Appomattocks, who came forth to meet them 
in a most warlike manner, with bows and arrows, and formidable 
war-clubs ; but the whites, making signs of peace, were suffered to 
land unmolested.* At length they selected for the site of the 
colony a peninsula lying on the north side of the James River, 
and about forty miles from its mouth. The western end of this 
peninsula, where it is connected by a little isthmus with the main 
land, was the spot pitched upon for the erection of a town, which 
was named, in honor of the king, Jamestown. Some contention 
occurred betAveen Wingfield and Gosnold in regard to the selec- 
tion of this place, Gosnold objecting to it. Smith conceived it a 

* Percy's Narrative. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 41 

fit place for a great city. Gosnold exhibited in this matter the 
better judgment. The situation, eligible in some points, was ex- 
tremely unhealthy, being low and exposed to the malaria of ex- 
tensive marshes covered with water at high-tide. The bank of 
the river there is marked by no striking or picturesque feature. 
According to the terms of the charter, the territory now appro- 
priated to the colony comprised a square of a base of one hundred 
miles, and including an area of ten thousand square miles, of 
which Jamestown was the centre, so to speak. 

The settlers landed at Jamestown on the 13th day of May, 
1607. This was the first permanent settlement effected by the 
English in North America, after the lapse of one hundred and 
ten years from the discovery of the continent by the Cabots, and 
twenty-two years after the first attempt to colonize it, made 
under the auspices of Walter Raleigh. Upon landing, the coun- 
cil took the oath of office ; Edward Maria Wingfield was elected 
president, and Thomas Studley, cape-merchant or treasurer of 
the colony.* Smith was excluded from the council upon some 
false pretences. Dean Swift says: "When a great genius 
appears in the world, the dunces are all in confederacy against 
him." 

All hands now fell to work, the council planning a fort, the 
rest clearing ground for pitching tents, preparing clapboard for 
freighting the vessels, laying off gardens, and making fishing- 
nets. The Indians frequently visited them in a friendly way. 
The president's overweening jealousy would allow no military ex- 
ercise or fortification, save the boughs of trees thrown together 
in a semicircle by the energy of Captain Kendall. 

On the fourth of June, Newport, Smith, and twenty others were 
dispatched to discover the head of the river on which they were 
seated, called by the Indians, Powhatan, and by the English, the 
James. The natives everywhere received them kindly, dancing, 
and feasting them with bread, fish, strawberries, and mulberries, 
for which Newport requited them with bells, pins, needles, and 
looking-glasses, which so pleased them that they followed the 
strangers from place to place. In six days they reached a town 

* Stith, 46. 



42 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

called Powhatan, one of the seats of the great chief of that name, 
whom they found there. It consisted of twelve wigwams, plea- 
santly situated on a bold range of hills overlooking the river, 
with three islets in front, and many corn-fields around. This pic- 
turesque spot lies on the north bank of the river, about a mile 
below the falls, and still retains the same name. 

On the day of their arrival, the tenth of June, the party visited 
the falls, and again on the day following, Whitsunday, when they 
erected a cross there to indicate the farthest point of discovery. 
Newport, in return for Powhatan's hospitality, presented him 
with a gown and a hatchet. Upon their return, the Indians first 
gave occasion for distrust at Weyanoke, within twenty miles of 
Jamestown. Arriving there on the next day, June the twentieth, 
they found that a boy had been killed, and seventeen men, in- 
cluding the greater part of the council, had been wounded by 
the savages; that during the assault a cross-bar shot from one 
of the vessels had struck down a bough of a tree among them 
and made them retire, but for which all the settlers there would 
probably have been massacred, as they were at the time of the 
attack planting corn in security, and without arms. Wingfield 
now consented that the fort should be palisaded, cannon mounted, 
and the men armed and exercised. The attacks and ambuscades 
of the natives were frequent, and the English, by their careless 
straggling, were often wounded, while the fleet-footed savages 
easily escaped. 

Thus the colonists endured continual hardships, guarding the 
workmen by day and keeping watch by night. Six weeks being 
passed in this way, Newport was now about to return to Eng- 
land. Ever since their departure from the Canaries, save for a 
while in the West Indies, Smith had been in a sort of duress 
upon the false and scandalous charges of some of the principal 
men in the expedition, who, envying his superiority, gave out 
that he intended to usurp the command, murder the council, and 
make himself king; that his confederates were distributed in the 
three vessels; and that divers of them, who had revealed it, would 
confirm it. Upon these accusations Smith had been arrested, 
and had now lain for several months under the cloud of these 
suspicions. Upon the eve of Newport's departure, Smith's accu- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 43 

sers affecting through pity to refer his case to the council in Eng- 
land, rather than overwhelm him on the spot by an exposure of 
his criminal designs, he defied their malice, defeated their base 
machinations, and so bore himself throughout the whole affair, 
that all saw his innocence and the malignity of his enemies. 
The very witnesses suborned to accuse him charged his enemies 
with subornation of perjury. Kendall, the ringleader of them, 
was adjudged to pay him two hundred pounds in damages, which 
Smith contributed to the common stock of the colony. During 
these disputes Hunt, the chaplain, used his exertions to recon- 
cile the parties, and at his instance Smith was admitted into the 
council on the twentieth day of June, and on the next day they 
all received the communion. The Indians now sued for peace, 
and two days after Newport weighed anchor, leaving at James- 
town one hundred settlers, with provisions sufficient, as was sup- 
posed, for more than three months.* 

Not long after his departure a fatal sickness began to prevail 
at Jamestown, engendered by the insalubrity of the place, the 
exposure of the settlers, and the scarcity and bad quality of their 
food. Hitherto they had procured provisions from the vessels, 
but now, for some time, the daily allowance of each man was a 
pint of damaged wheat or barley. "Our drink was water, and 
our lodgings castles in the air." By September fifty of them, 
being one-half of the colony, died; the rest made out to subsist 
upon sturgeon and crabs. Among the victims of disease was 
Bartholomew Gosnold, the projector of the expedition, whose 
name is well worthy to be ranked with Smith and Raleigh. The 
sick, during this calamitous season, received the faithful atten- 
tions of Thomas Wotton, surgeon-general. 

Wingfield, the president, after engrossing, as it was alleged, 
the public store of provisions to his own use, attempted to escape 
from the colony in the pinnace, and return to England. This 
baseness roused the indignation even of the emaciated survivors, 
and they deposed him, and appointed Captain John Ratcliffe in 



* Smith, i. 153; Newes from Virginia; Anderson's History of the Colonial 
Church, i. 217. 



44 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

his place, and displaced Kendall, a confederate of Wingfield, 
from the council. 

In a manuscript journal of these early incidents, written by 
Wingfield himself, and preserved in the Lambeth Library, he 
undertakes to exculpate himself from the charge of engrossing 
the common store in the following terms: "As I understand, 
by report, I am much charged with starving the colony ; I did 
always give every man his allowance faithfully, both of corn, oil, 
aquavitse, etc., as was by the council proportioned; neither was 
it bettered after my time, until toward the end of March a bis- 
cuit was allowed to every workingman for his breakfast, by 
means of the provision brought us by Captain Newport, as will 
appear hereafter. It is further said I did much banquet and 
riot ; I never had but one squirrel roasted, whereof I gave a part 
to Mr. Ratcliffe, then sick ; yet was that squirrel given me. I 
did never heat a flesh-pot but when the common-pot was so used 
likewise ; yet how often Mr. Presidents and the councillors have, 
night and day, been endangered to break their backs, so laden 
with swans, geese, ducks, etc. How many times their flesh-pots 
have swelled, many hungry eyes did behold, to their great long- 
ing; and what great thieves and thieving there hath been in 
common store since my time, I doubt not but is already made 
known to his majesty's council for Virginia." 

At length their stores were almost exhausted, the small quan- 
tity of wine remaining being reserved for the communion-table; 
the sturgeon gone, all further effort abadoned in despair, and an 
attack from the savages each moment expected. At this hopeless 
conjuncture, a benignant Providence put it into the hearts of the 
Indians to supply the famished sufferers with an abundance of 
fruits and provision. Mankind, in trying scenes, render an in- 
voluntary homage to superior genius. Ratcliffe, the new presi- 
dent, and Martin, finding themselves incompetent and unpopular, 
intrusted the helm of affairs to Smith, who, acting as cape-mer- 
chant, set the colonists to work, some to mow, others to build 
houses and thatch them, he himself always performing the 
heaviest task. In a short time habitations were provided for the 
greater part of the survivors, and a church was built. Smith 
next embarked in a shallop to go in quest of supplies. Igno 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 45 

ranee of the Indian language, the want of sails for the boat, 
and of clothing for the men and their small force, were dis- 
couraging impediments, but they did not dishearten him. With 
a crew of six or seven he went down the river to Kecoughtan, a 
town of eighteen cabins. Here he replied to a scornful defiance, 
by a volley of musketry and capturing their okee — an idol stuffed 
with moss, and painted and adorned with copper chains — so ter- 
rified them, that they quickly brought him a supply of venison, 
wild-fowl, and bread. Having procured a supply of corn, on his 
return he discovered the town and county of Warrasqueake, 
where he procured a further supply. After this, in several jour- 
neys, he explored the borders of the Chickahominy River. Dur- 
ing his absence, Wingfield and Kendall, leaguing with the sailors 
and others, seized the pinnace in order to escape to England; but 
Smith, returning unexpectedly, opened so hot a fire upon them as 
compelled them to stay or sink. For this offence Kendall was 
tried by a jury, convicted, and shot.* Not long after, Ratcliffe 
and Captain Gabriel Archer made a similar attempt, and it was 
foiled by Smith's vigilance and resolution. 

At the approach of winter the rivers of Virginia abounded 
with wild-fowl, and the English now were well supplied with 
bread, peas, persimmons, fish, and game. But this plenty did not 
last long; for what Smith carefully provided the colonists care- 
lessly wasted. The idlers at Jamestown, including some of the 
council, now began to mutter complaints against Smith for not 
having discovered the source of the Chickahominy, it being sup- 
posed that the South Sea or Pacific Ocean lay not far distant, 
and that a communication with it would be found by some river 
running from the northwest. The Chickahominy flowed in that 
direction, and hence the solicitude of these Jamestown cosmo- 
graphers to trace that river to its head. To allay this dissatis- 
faction of the council, Smith made another voyage up that river, 
and proceeded until it became necessary, in order to pass, to cut 
away a large tree which had fallen across the stream. When at 
last the barge could advance no farther, he returned eight miles 
and moored her in a wide bay out of danger, and leaving orders 

* Newes from Va., 7. 



46 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

to Ms men not to venture on shore until his return, accompanied 
by two of his men and two Indian guides, and leaving seven men 
in the barge, he went still higher up in a canoe to the distance of 
twenty miles. In a short time after he had parted from the barge 
the men left in her went ashore, and one of them, George Cassen, 
was surprised and killed. Smith, in the mean while, not suspect- 
ing this disaster, reached the marshy ground toward the head of 
the river, "the slashes," and went out with his gun to provide 
food for the party, and took with him one of the Indians. Dur- 
ing his excursion his two men, Robinson and Emry, were slain; 
and he himself was attacked by a numerous party of Indians, two 
of whom he killed with a pistol. He protected himself from their 
arrows by making a shield of his guide, binding him fast by the 
arm with one of his garters. Many arrows pierced his clothes, 
and some slightly wounded him. Endeavoring to reach the canoe, 
and walking backward with his eye still fixed on his pursuers, he 
sunk to his waist in an oozy creek, and his savage with him. 
Nevertheless the Indians were afraid to approach, until, being 
now half-dead with cold, he threw away his arms, when they drew 
him forth, and led him to the fire where his two companions were 
lying dead. Here the Indians chafed his benumbed limbs, and 
having restored the vital heat, Smith inquired for their chief, and 
they pointed him to Opechancanough, the great chief of Pamun- 
key. Smith presented him a mariner's compass; the vibrations 
of the mysterious needle astonished the untutored sons of the 
forest. In a short time they bound the prisoner to a tree, and 
were about to shoot him to death, when Opechancanough holding 
up the compass, they all laid down their bows and arrows. Then 
marching in Indian file they led the captive guarded, by fifteen 
men, about six miles, to Orapakes, a hunting town in the upper 
part of the Chickahominy swamp, and about twelve miles north- 
east from the falls of James River (Richmond.) At this town, 
consisting of thirty or forty houses, built like arbors and covered 
with mats, the women and children came forth to meet them, 
staring in amazement at Smith. Opechancanough and his fol- 
lowers performed their military exercises, and joined in the war- 
dance. Smith was confined in a long house under a guard, and 
an enormous quantity of bread and venison was set before him, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 47 

as if to fatten him for sacrifice, or because they supposed that a 
superior being required a proportionately larger supply of food. 
An Indian who had received some toys from Smith at Jamestown, 
now, in return, brought him a warm garment of fur — a pleasing 
instance of gratitude, a sentiment often found even in the breast 
of a savage. Another Indian, whose son had been mortally 
wounded by Smith, made an attempt to kill him in revenge, and 
was only prevented by the interposition of his guards. 

Opechancanough meditating an assault upon Jamestown, un- 
dertook to entice Smith to join him by offers of life, liberty, land, 
and women. Being allowed to send a message to Jamestown, he 
wrote a note on a leaf of a book, giving information of the in- 
tended assault, and directing what means should be employed to 
strike terror into the messengers, and what presents should be 
sent back by them. Three men dispatched with the note returned 
with an answer and the presents, in three days, notwithstanding 
the rigor of the season; it being the midst of the winter of 1607, 
remarkable for its extraordinary severity, and the ground being 
covered with snow. Opechancanough and his people looked 
upon their captive as some supernatural being, and were filled 
with new wonder on seeing how the "paper could speak." Aban- 
doning the design of attacking Jamestown, they conducted Smith 
through the country of the Youghtanunds, Mattapanients, Pa- 
yanketanks, Nantaughtacunds, and Onawmanients, on the banks 
of the Rappahannock, and Potomac. Thence he was taken to 
Pamaunkee, at the junction of the Matapony and Pamunkey — 
the residence of Opechancanough. Here, for three days, they 
engaged in their horrid orgies and incantations, with a view to 
divine their prisoner's secret designs whether friendly or hostile. 
They also showed him a bag of gunpowder, which they were 
reserving till the next spring, when they intended to sow it in 
the ground, as they were desirous of propagating so useful an 
article. 

Smith was hospitably entertained by Opitchapan, (Opechanca- 
nough's brother,) who dwelt a little above, on the Pamunkey. 
Finally, the captive was taken to Werowocomoco, probably sig- 
nifying chief place of council, a favorite seat of Powhatan, on 
the York River, then called the Pamaunkee or Pamunkey. They 



48 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

found this chief in his rude palace, reclining before the fire, on a 
sort of throne, resembling a bedstead, covered with mats, his 
head adorned with feathers and his neck with beads, and 
wearing a long robe of raccoon skins. At his head sate a 
young female, and another at his feet; while, on each side of 
the wigwam, sate the men in rows, on mats; and behind them 
as many young women, their heads and shoulders painted red, 
some with their heads decorated with the snowy down of birds, 
and all with strings of white beads falling over their shoulders. 
On Smith's entrance they all raised a terrific yell; the queen 
of Appomattock brought him water to wash, and another, a 
bunch of feathers for a towel. After feasting him, a long con- 
sultation was held. That ended, two large stones were brought, 
and the one laid upon the other, before Powhatan ; then as many 
as could lay hold, seizing Smith, dragged him to the stones, and 
laying his head on them, snatched up their war-clubs, and, bran- 
dishing them in the air, were about to slay him, when Pocahontas, 
Powhatan's favorite daughter, a girl of only twelve or thirteen 
years of age,* finding all her entreaties unavailing, flew, and, at 
the hazard of her life, clasped the captive's head in her arms, and 
laid her own upon his. The stern heart of Powhatan was touched 
— he relented, and consented that Smith might live. 

Werowocomoco, the scene of this celebrated rescue, lies on the 
north side of York River, in the County of Gloucester, about 
twenty-five miles below the fork of the river, and on a bay into 
which three creeks empty, f This is Timber-neck Bay, on the 
east bank of which stands a remarkable old stone chimney, tra- 
ditionally known as "Powhatan's chimney," and its site corre- 
sponds exactly with the royal house of that chief, as laid down on 
Smith's Map of Virginia. Werowocomoco is only a few miles 
distant from the historic field of Yorktown, which is lower down 
the river, and on the opposite side. The lapse of time will con- 
tinually heighten the interesting associations of Werowocomoco, 
and in ages of the distant future the pensive traveller will linger 



* Smith, ii. 30. In Newes from Va., Smith calls her "a child of ten years 
old." This was a mistake. 

■j- Stith, 53; Newes from Virginia, 11. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 49 

at the spot graced with the lovely charms of nature, and endeared 
by recollections of the tender heroism of Pocahontas. 

Within two days after Smith's rescue, Powhatan suffered him 
to return to Jamestown, on condition of sending him two great 
guns and a grindstone, for which he promised to give him the 
country of Capahowosick, and forever esteem him as his own 
favorite son Nantaquoud. Smith, accompanied by Indian guides, 
quartered at night in some old hunting cabins of Paspahegh, and 
reached Jamestown on the next morning about sunrise. During 
the journey, as ever since his capture, he had expected at almost 
every moment to be put to death. Returning, after an absence 
of seven weeks, he was joyfully welcomed back by all except 
Archer and two or three of his confederates. Archer, who had 
been illegally admitted into the council, had the insolent audacity 
to indict Smith, upon a chapter of Leviticus, for the death of his 
two men slain by the Indians on the Chickahominy. He was 
tried on the day of his return, and sentenced to be hanged on the 
next day, or the day after the next, when Newport's opportune 
arrival on the very night after Smith's return, providentially 
saved him from this ignominious fate. Wingfield attributes the 
saving of his life likewise to Newport, who released him from the 
pinnace, where he was in duress.* 

Smith now treated his Indian guides kindly, and showing Raw- 
hunt, a favorite servant of Powhatan, two pieces of cannon and 
a grindstone, gave him leave to carry them home to his master. 
A cannon was then loaded with stones, and discharged among 
the boughs of a tree hung with icicles, when the Indians fled in 
terror, but upon being persuaded to return, they received pre- 
sents for Powhatan, his wives and children, and departed. 

At the time of Smith's return to Jamestown, he found the 
number of the colonists reduced to forty. Of the one hundred 
original settlers, f seventy-eight are classified as follows: fifty- 
four gentlemen, four carpenters, twelve laborers, a blacksmith, a 



* Anderson's History of the Colonial Church, i. 221, referring to Wingfield's 
MS. Journal. 

f List of the first planters, Smith, i. 153. 

4 



50 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

sailor, a barber, a bricklayer, a mason, a tailor, a drummer, and 
a "chirurgeon." Of the gentlemen, the greater part were indo- 
lent, dissolute reprobates, of good families ; and they found them- 
selves not in a golden El Dorado, as they had fondly anticipated, 
but in a remote wilderness, encompassed by want, exposure, 
fatigue, disease, and danger. 

The return of Smith, and his report of the plenty that he had 
witnessed at Werowocomoco, and of the generous clemency of 
Powhatan, and especially of the love of Pocahontas, revived the 
drooping hopes of the survivors at Jamestown. The arrival of 
Newport at the same juncture with stores and a number of addi- 
tional settlers, being part of the first supply sent out from Eng- 
land by the treasurer and council, was joyfully welcomed. Po- 
cahontas too, with her tawny train of attendants, frequently 
visited Jamestown, with presents of bread, and venison, and rac- 
coons, sent by Powhatan for Smith and Newport. However, the 
improvident traffic allowed between Newport's mariners and the 
natives, soon extremely enhanced the price of provisions, and the 
too protracted detention of his vessel made great inroads upon 
the public store. Newport, not long after his arrival, accom- 
panied by Smith, Scrivener, newly arrived, and made one of the 
council, and thirty or forty picked men, visited Powhatan at We- 
rowocomoco. Upon their arrival, Smith landed with a party of 
men, and after crossing several creeks on bridges of poles and 
bark, (for it appears that he had mistaken the right landing 
place, having probably passed up a little beyond the mouth of 
Timberneck Bay,) they were met and escorted to the town by 
Opechancanough, Nantaquaus, Powhatan's son, and two hundred 
warriors. Powhatan was found seated on his bedstead throne of 
mats, with his buckskin pillow or cushion, embroidered with beads. 
More than forty trays of bread stood without, in rows on each 
side of the door. Four or five hundred Indians were present. 
Newport landed on the next day, and some days were past in 
feasting, and dancing, and trading, in which last Powhatan ex- 
hibited a curious mixture of huckstering cunning, and regal pride. 
Smith gave him a suit of red cloth, a white greyhound, and a 
hat. Charmed with some blue beads, for one or two pounds of 
them he gave in exchange two or three hundred bushels of corn. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 51 

Newport presented him a boy named Thomas Salvage, in return 
for an Indian named Namontack. Smith acted as interpreter. 

The English next visited Opechancanough, at his seat, Pamun- 
key. The blue beads came to be in great request, and none 
dared to wear them save the chiefs and their families. Having 
procured a further supply of corn at this place, Newport and his 
party returned to Jamestown, which was now destroyed by an 
accidental fire. Originating in the public storehouse, the flames 
spread rapidly over the cabins, thatched with reeds, consuming 
even the palisades, some eight or ten yards distant. Arms, ap- 
parel, bedding, and much of their private provision, were con- 
sumed, as was also a temporary church, which had been erected. 
"The minister, Hunt, lost all his library, and all that he had but 
the clothes on his back ; yet none ever heard him repine at his 
loss. Upon any alarm he was as ready for defence as any, and 
till he could not speak, he never ceased to his utmost to animate 
us constantly to persist; whose soul, questionless, is with God."* 
As no further mention is made of him at Jamestown, it is pro- 
bable that he did not live long after this fire. Dr. Hawks, how- 
ever, conjectures that he survived long enough to officiate in the 
first marriage in Virginia, which took place in the year 1608. f 
He appears to have resided in the County of Kent, England, 
where, in January, 1594, he was appointed to the vicarage of 
Reculver, which he resigned in 1602. But he probably still con- 
tinued to reside there, or to consider that his home, until he em- 
barked for Virginia, because when in the Downs, which are oppo- 
site to Kent, he was only twenty miles "from his habitation." 
Of his appointment as chaplain to the expedition, Wingfield, in 
his journal referred to before, gives the following account: "For 
my first work, (which was to make a right choice of a spiritual 
pastor,) I appeal to the remembrance of my Lord of Canterbury's 
Grace, who gave me very gracious audience in my request. And 
the world knoweth whom I took with me, truly a man, in my 
opinion, not any way to be touched with the rebellious humor of 
a papist spirit, nor blemished with the least suspicion of a fac- 



* Purchas, iv. 1710, cited in Anderson's Histoi'y Col. Church, i. 222. 
f Hawks' Contributions, 22. 



52 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

tious schismatic." My Lord of Canterbury was that persecuting 
prelate, Archbishop Bancroft, who persecuted the Puritan dis- 
senters till they desired to come over to Virginia to get out of 
his reach, and Avhich they were prohibited from doing by a royal 
proclamation, issued at his instance. Rev. Robert Hunt, by all 
the notices of him that are given, appears to have been a pious, 
disinterested, resolute, and exemplary man. 

When the English first settled at Jamestown, their place of 
worship consisted of an awning, or old sail, suspended between 
three or four trees, to protect them from the sun; the area 
covered by it was inclosed by wooden rails ; the seats were un- 
hewed trees, till plank was cut ; the pulpit was a wooden cross- 
piece nailed to two neighboring trees. In inclement weather an 
old decayed tent served for the place of worship. After awhile, 
by the zeal of the minister Hunt, and the assistance of Newport's 
seamen, a homely structure like a barn was erected, "set upon 
crachets, covered with rafts, sedge, and earth," as likewise were 
the sides, the best of the houses being constructed after the same 
fashion, and the greater part of them worse than the church, so 
that they were but a poor defence against wind or rain. Never- 
theless, the service was read daily, morning and evening, and on 
Sunday two sermons were preached, and the communion cele- 
brated every three months, till the Rev. Mr. Hunt died. After 
which prayers were still said daily, and a homily read on Sunday, 
and so it continued until the arrival of other preachers some two 
or three years afterwards. The salary allowed Mr. Hunt ap- 
pears to have been <£500 a year, appropriated by the council of 
the Virginia Company in England, consented to by the council in 
Virginia, and confirmed by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 
1605, to Richard Hackluyt, Prebend of Westminster, who, by 
his authority, sent out Mr. Hunt, "an honest, religious, and 
courageous divine, during whose life our factions were oft quali- 
fied, our wants and greatest extremities so comforted, that they 
seemed easy in comparison of what we endured after his me- 
morable death."* 



* Captain John Smith's "Advertisements for the Unexperienced Planters of 
New England, or anywhere," etc. A rare pamphlet, written at the house of Sir 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 53 

The stock of provisions running low, the colonists at James- 
town were reduced to a diet of meal and water, and this, together 
with their exposure to cold, after the loss of their habitations, 
cut off upwards of one-half of them. Their condition was made 
still worse by a rage for gold that now seized them. "There 
was no talk, no hope, no work, but dig gold, wash gold, refine 
gold, load gold." Smith, not indulging in these empty dreams 
of imaginary wealth, laughed at their infatuation in loading 
"such a drunken ship with gilded dust." 

Captain Newport, after a delay of three months and a half, 
being now ready to sail for England, and the planters having no 
use for parliaments, places, petitions, admirals, recorders, inter- 
preters, chronologers, courts of plea, nor justices of the peace, 
sent Master Wingfield and Captain Archer home with him, so 
that they, who had ingrossed all those titles to themselves, might 
seek some better place of employment. Newport carried with 
him twenty turkeys, which had been presented to him by Pow- 
hatan, who had demanded and received twenty swords in return 
for them. This fowl, peculiar to America, had been many years 
before carried to England by some of the early discoverers of 
North America.* 

After Newport's departure, Ratcliffe, the president, lived in 
ease, peculating on the public store. The spring now approach- 
ing, Smith and Scrivener undertook to rebuild Jamestown, repair 
the palisades, fell trees, prepare the fields, plant and erect 
another church. While thus engaged they were joyfully sur- 
prised by the arrival of the Phoenix, commanded by Captain 
Nelson, who had left England with Newport, about the end 
of the year 1607, and after coming within sight of Cape 
Henry, had been driven off to the West Indies. He brought 
with him the remainder of the first supply, which comprised one 
hundred and twenty settlers. Having found provisions in the 
West Indies, and having economically husbanded his own, he im- 



Humphrey Mildmay, in the Parish of Danbery, Essex County, England, dedi- 
cated to the excellent Archbishop Abbot, and published in 1631. Cited in 
Anderson's History of Col. Church, ii. 747. 

* Grahame's Col. Hist. U. S., Amer. ed., i. 28, in note. 



54 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

parted them generously to the colony, so that now there was 
accumulated a store sufficient for half a year. 

Powhatan having effected so advantageous an exchange with 
Newport, afterwards sent Smith twenty turkeys, but receiving no 
swords in return, he was highly offended, and ordered his people 
to take them by fraud or force, and they accordingly attempted 
to seize them at the gates of Jamestown. The president and 
Martin, who now ruled, remained inactive, under pretence of 
orders from England not to offend the natives; but some of 
them happening to meddle with Smith, he handled them so 
roughly, by whipping and imprisonment, as to repress their 
insolence. 

Pocahontas, in beauty of feature, expression, and form, far 
surpassed any of the natives; and in intelligence and spirit "was 
the nonpareil of her country." Powhatan, hearing that some of 
his people were kept prisoners at Jamestown, sent her, with Raw- 
hunt, (who was as remarkable for his personal deformity, but 
shrewd and crafty,) with presents of a deer and some bread to sue 
for their ransom. Smith released the prisoners, and Pocahontas 
was dismissed with presents. Thus the scheme of Powhatan to 
destroy the English with their own swords, was happily frus- 
trated. 

The Phoenix was freighted with a cargo of cedar, and the un- 
serviceable, gold-hunting Captain Martin, concluded to return 
with her to England. Of the 120 settlers brought by Newport 
and Nelson, there were 33 gentlemen, 21 laborers, (some of them 
only footmen,) 6 tailors, 2 apothecaries, 2 jewellers, 2 gold-re- 
finers, 2 goldsmiths, a gunsmith, a perfumer, a surgeon, a cooper, 
a tobacco-pipe maker, and a blacksmith.* 

* Smith, i. 170. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Smith's First Exploring Voyage up the Chesapeake Bay — Smith's Isles — Acco- 
mac — Tangier Islands — Wighcocomoco — Watkins' Point. — Keale's Hill — Point 
Ployer — Watts' Islands — Cuskarawaok River — The Patapsco — Potomac — 
Quiyough — Stingray Island— Smith returns to Jamestown — His Second Voyage 
up Chesapeake Bay — The Massawomeks — The Indians on the River Tock- 
wogh — Sasquesahannocks — Peregrine's Mount — Willoughby River — The Pa- 
tuxent — The Rappahannock — The Pianketank — Elizabeth River — Nansemond 
River — Return to Jamestown — The Hudson River Discovered — Smith, Presi- 
dent — Affairs at Jamestown — Newport arrives with Second Supply — His 
Instructions — The First English Women in Virginia — Smith visits Werowoco- 
moco — Entertained by Pocahontas — His Interview with Powhatan — Corona- 
tion of Powhatan — Newport Explores the Monacan Country — Smith's Disci- 
pline — Affairs at Jamestown — Newport's Return — Smith's Letter to the Council 
■ — The First Marriage in Virginia — Smith again visits Powhatan. 

On the second day of June, 1608, Smith, with a company of 
fourteen, consisting of seven gentlemen (including Dr. Walter 
Russel, who had recently arrived,) and seven soldiers, left James- 
town, for the purpose of exploring the Chesapeake Bay. The 
party embarked in an open barge of less than three tons, and 
dropping down the James River, parted with the Phoenix off Cape 
Henry, and crossing over thence to the Eastern Shore, discovered 
and named, after their commander, "Smith's Isles." At Cape 
Charles they met some grim, athletic savages, with bone-headed 
spears in their hands, who directed them to the dwelling-place of 
the Werowance of Accomac, who was found courteous and 
friendly, and the handsomest native that they had yet seen. 
His country pleasant, fertile, and intersected by creeks, affording 
good harbors for small craft. The people spoke the language of 
Powhatan. Smith pursuing his voyage, came upon some unin- 
habited isles, which were then named after Dr. Russel, surgeon 
of the party, but now are known as the Tangier Islands. Search- 
ing there for fresh water, they fell in with the River Wighco- 
moco, now called Pocomoke; the northern point was named 

(55) 



56 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Watkins' Point, and a hill on the south side of Pocomoke Bay, 
Keale's Hill, after two of the soldiers in the barge. Leaving 
that river they came to a high promontory called Point Ployer, 
in honor of a French nobleman, the former friend of Smith. 
There they discovered a pond of hot water. In a thunder-storm 
the barge's mast and sail were blown overboard, and the ex- 
plorers, narroAvly escaping from the fury of the elements, found 
it necessary to remain for two days on an island, which they 
named Limbo, but it is now known as one of Watts' Islands. 
Repairing the sails with their shirts, they visited a river on the 
Eastern Shore called Cuskarawaok, and now, by a singular trans- 
position of names, called Wighcocomoco. Here the Indians ran 
along the banks in wild amazement, some climbing to the tops 
of trees and shooting their arrows at the strangers. On the fol- 
lowing day a volley of musquetry dispersed the savages, and the 
English found some cabins, in which they left pieces of copper, 
beads, bells and looking-glasses. On the ensuing day a great 
number of Indians, men, women, and children, thronged around 
Smith and his companions with many expressions of friendship. 
These savages were of the tribes Nause, Sarapinagh, Arseek, and 
Nantaquak, of all others the most expert in trade. They were 
of small stature like the people of Wighcocomoco ; wore the finest 
furs, and manufactured a great deal of Roenoke, or Indian 
money, made out of shells. The Eastern Shore of the bay was 
found low and well wooded ; the Western well watered, but hilly 
and barren ; the valleys fruitful, thickly wooded, and abounding 
in deer, wolves, bears, and other wild animals. A navigable 
stream was called Bolus, from a parti-colored gum-like clay found 
on its banks, it is now known as the Patapsco. 

The party having been about a fortnight voyaging in an open 
boat, fatigued at the oar, and subsisting on mouldy bread, now 
importuned Smith to return to Jamestown. He at first refused, 
but shortly after, the sickness of his men, and the unfavorable 
weather, compelled him reluctantly to turn back, where the bay 
was about nine miles wide and nine or ten fathoms deep. On 
the sixteenth of June they fell in with the mouth of the Patawo- 
meke, or Potomac, where it appeared to be seven miles wide; and 
the tranquil magnificence of that majestic river reanimated their 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 57 

drooping spirits, and the sick having now recovered, they agreed 
to explore it. 

About thirty miles above the mouth, near the future birth- 
place of Washington, two Indians conducted them up a small 
creek, toward Nominy, where the banks swarmed with thousands 
of the natives, who, with their painted bodies and hideous yells, 
seemed so many infernal demons. Their noisy threats were soon 
silenced by the glancing of the English bullets on the water and 
the report of the muskets re-echoing in the forests, and the 
astonished red men dropped their bows and arrows, and, hostages 
being exchanged, received the whites kindly. Toward the head 
of the river they met some canoes laden with bear, deer, and 
other game, which the Indians shared with the English. 

On their return down the river, Japazaws, chief of Potomac, 
having furnished them with guides to conduct them up the River 
Quiyough, at the mouth of which he lived, (supposed by Stith* 
to be Potomac Creek,) in quest of Matchqueon, a mine, which 
they had heard of, the party left the Indian hostages in the 
barge, secured by a small chain, which they were to have for their 
reward. The mine turned out to be worthless, containing only a 
sort of antimony, used by the natives to paint themselves and 
their idols, and which gave them the appearance of blackamoors 
powdered with silver-dust. The credulous Newport had taken 
some bags of it to England as containing silver. The wild ani- 
mals observed were the beaver, otter, mink, marten, and bear; 
of fish they met with great numbers, sometimes lying in such 
schools near the surface that, in absence of nets, they undertook 
to catch them with a frying-pan ; but, plenty as they were, they 
were not to be caught with frying-pans. The barge running 
aground at the mouth of the Rappahannock, Smith amused him- 
self "spearing" them with his sword, and in taking one from its 
point it stung him in the wrist. In a little while the symptoms 
proved so alarming that his companions concluded his death to 
be at hand, and sorrowfully, prepared his grave in a neighboring 
island by his directions. But by Dr. Russcl's judicious treat- 
ment the patient quickly recovered, and supped that evening 

* Stith, 65. 



58 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

upon the offending fish. This incident gave its name to Stingray 
Island. The fish was of the ray species, much like a thornback, 
but with a long tail like a horse-whip, containing a poisoned 
sting with a serrate edge. 

The party returned to Jamestown late in July, and found sick- 
ness and discontent still prevalent there. Ratcliffe, the presi- 
dent, was deposed in favor of Smith, who, of the council, was 
next entitled to succeed; but Smith substituted Scrivener in his 
stead, and embarked again to complete his discoveries. 

On the twenty-fourth of July he set out for the Chesapeake Bay, 
his company consisting of six gentlemen, including Anthony Bag- 
nail, surgeon, and six soldiers. Detained some days at Kecough- 
tan, (Hampton,) they were hospitably entertained by the Indians 
there, who were astonished by some rockets thrown up in the 
evening. Reaching the head of the bay, the explorers met some 
canoes manned by Massawomeks, who, after their first alarm 
being propitiated by the present of two bells, presented Smith 
with bear's meat, venison, fish, bows, arrows, targets, and bear- 
skins. Stith supposed this nation to be the same with the Iro- 
quois, or Five Nations.* 

On the River Tockwogh (now Sassafras) Smith came to an In- 
dian town, fortified with a palisade and breastworks, and here 
men, women, and children, came forth to welcome the whites 
with songs and dances, offering them fruits, furs, and whatever 
they had, spreading mats for them to sit on, and in every way 
expressing their friendship. They had tomahawks, knives, and 
pieces of iron and copper, which, as they alleged, they had pro- 
cured from the Sasquesahannocks, a mighty people dwelling two 
days' journey distant on the borders of the Susquehanna. 
Suckahanna, in the Powhatan language, signifies "water."f 

Two interpreters being dispatched to invite the Sasquesahan- 
nocks to visit the English, in three or four days sixty of that 
gigantic people arrived, with presents of venison, tobacco-pipes 
three feet long, baskets, targets, bows and arrows. Five of their 
chiefs embarked in the barge to cross the bay. It being Smith's 
custom daily to have prayers with a psalm, the savages were 

* Stith, G7. f Smith, i. 147. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 59 

filled with wonder at it, and in their turn performed a sort of 
adoration, holding their hands up to the sun, and chanting a wild 
unearthly song. They then embraced Captain Smith, adoring 
him in the like manner, apparently looking upon him as some 
celestial visitant, and overwhelming him with a profusion of pre- 
sents and abject homage. 

The highest mountain seen by the voyagers to the northward 
they named Peregrine's Mount; and Willoughby River derived 
its name from Smith's native town. At the extreme limits of 
discovery crosses were carved in the bark of trees, or brass 
crosses were left. The tribes on the Patuxent were found very 
tractable, and more civil than any others. On the banks of the 
picturesque Rappahannock, Smith and his party were kindly 
treated by the Morauglitacunds ; and here they met with Mosco, 
one of the Wighcocomocoes, who was remarkable for a bushy 
black beard, Avhereas the natives in general had little or none. 
He proved to be of great service to the English in exploring the 
Rappahannock. Mr. Richard Fetherstone, a gentleman of the 
company, died during this part of the voyage, and was buried on 
the sequestered banks of this river, where a bay was named after 
him. The river was explored to the falls, (near Fredericksburg,) 
where a skirmish took place with the Rappahannocks. 

Smith next explored the Pianketank, where the inhabitants 
were, for the most part, absent on a hunting excursion, only a 
few women, children, and old men being left to tend the corn. 
Returning thence the barge encountered a tremendous thunder- 
storm in Gosnold's Bay, and running before the wind, the 
voyagers could only catch fitful glimpses of the land, by the 
flashes of lightning, which saved them from dashing to pieces on 
the shore, and directed them to Point Comfort. They next 
visited Chesapeake, now Elizabeth River, (on which Norfolk is 
situated,) six or seven miles from the mouth of which they came 
upon two or three cultivated patches and some cabins. After 
this they sailed seven or eight miles up the Nansemond, and 
found its banks consisting mainly of oyster-shells. Skirmishing 
here with ths Chesapcakes and Nansemonds, Smith procured as 
much corn as he could carry away. September the 7th, 1608, the 
party arrived at Jamestown, after an absence of upwards of 



60 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

three months, and found some of the colonists recovered, others 
still sick, many dead, Ratcliffe, the late president, under arrest 
for mutiny, the harvest gathered, but the stock of provisions 
damaged by rain. 

During that summer, Smith, with a few men, in a small barge, 
in his several voyages of discovery traversed a distance of not less 
than three thousand miles.* He had been at Jamestown only 
three days in three months, and had, during this interval, ex- 
plored the whole of Chesapeake Bay and of the country lying 
on its shores, and made a map of them. 

In the year 1607 the Plymouth Company, under the diiection 
of Lord Chief Justice Popham, dispatched a vessel to inspect 
their territory of North Virginia. That vessel being captured 
by the Spaniards, Sir John Popham, at his own expense, sent 
out another, which, having returned with a favorable report of the 
country, he was enabled to equip an expedition for the purpose 
of effecting a settlement there. Under the command of his 
brother, Henry Popham, and of Raleigh Gilbert, a nephew of Sir 
Humphrey Gilbert, a hundred emigrants, embarking May, 1607, 
in two vessels, repaired to North Virginia, and seated themselves 
at the mouth of the River Sagahadock, where they erected Fort 
St. George. However, after enduring a great deal of sickness 
and hardship, and losing several of their number, including their 
president, Henry Popham, and hearing by a supply-vessel of the 
death of their chief patrons, Sir John Popham, and Sir John 
Gilbert, (brother of Raleigh Gilbert,) they gladly abandoned the 
colony, and returned to England in the spring of 1608. 

It was in this year that Henry Hudson, an Englishman, em- 
ployed by the Dutch East India Company, after entering the 
Chesapeake, and remarking the infant settlement of the English, 
discovered the beautiful river which still retains the name of that 
distinguished navigator. The Dutch afterwards erected near its 
mouth, and on the Island of Manhattan, the fort and cabins of 
New Amsterdam, the germ of New York. 

Smith had hitherto declined, but now consented, September, 
1608, to undertake the office of president. Ratcliffe was under 
arrest for mutiny; and the building of the fine house which he 

* Smith, i. 191. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 61 

had commenced for himself in the woods, was discontinued. The 
church was repaired, the storehouse newly covered, magazines for 
supplies erected, the fort reduced to a pentagon figure, the watch 
renewed, troops trained; and the whole company mustered every 
Saturday in the plain by the west bulwark, called " Smithfield." 
There, sometimes, more than a hundred dark-eyed and dark-haired 
tawny Indians would stand in amazement to see a file of soldiers 
batter a tree, where a target was set up to shoot at. 

Newport arrived with a second supply, and brought out also 
presents for Powhatan, a basin and ewer, bedstead and suit of 
scarlet clothes. Newport, upon this voyage, had procured a pri- 
vate commission in which he stood pledged to perform one of 
three impossibilities; for he engaged not to return to England 
without either a lump of gold, a certainty of the South Sea, or 
one of Sir Walter Raleigh's lost colonists. Newport brought 
also orders to discover the Manakin (originally Monacan) country, 
and a barge constructed so as to be taken to pieces, which they 
were to carry beyond the falls, so as to convey them down by 
some river running westward to the South Sea or Pacific Ocean. 
Vasco Nunez, in 1513, crossing the Isthmus of Darien, from the 
summit of a mountain discovered, beyond the other side of the 
continent, an ocean, which, from the direction in which he saw it, 
took the name of the "South Sea." 

The cost of this last supply brought out by Newport was two 
thousand pounds, and the company ordered that the vessels 
should be sent back freighted with cargoes of corresponding 
value, and threatened, in case of a failure, that the colonists 
should be left in Virginia as banished men. It appears that the 
Virginia Company had been deeply incensed by a letter received 
by Lord Salisbury, (Sir Robert Cecil,) Secretary of State, report- 
ing that the planters intended to divide the country among them- 
selves. It is altogether improbable that they had conceived any 
design of appropriating a country which so few of them were 
willing to cultivate, and from which so many of them were 
anxious to escape. The folly of the instructions was only sur- 
passed by the inhumanity of the threat, and this folly and inhu- 
manity were justly exposed by Smith's letter in reply.* 

* Stith, 82 ; Smith, 200. 



62 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Newport brought over with him Captains Peter Wynne and 
Richard Waldo, two veteran soldiers and valiant gentlemen; 
Francis West, brother of Lord Delaware; Raleigh Crashaw; 
Thomas Forest with Mrs. Forest, and Anne Burras, her maid; 
the first Englishwomen that landed at Jamestown.* Some Poles 
and Germans were sent out to make pitch, tar, glass, soap, ashes, 
and erect mills. Waldo and Wynne were admitted into the 
council ; and Ratcliffe was restored to his seat. 

The time appointed for Powhatan's coronation now drawing 
near, Smith, accompanied by Captain Waldo, and three others, 
went overland to a point on the Pamaunkee (York) River, oppo- 
site WeroAvocomoco, to which they crossed over in an Indian 
canoe. Upon reaching Werowocomoco, Powhatan being found 
absent, was sent for, and, in the mean time, Smith and his com- 
rades were being entertained by Pocahontas and her companions. 
They made a fire in an open field, and Smith being seated on a 
mat before it, presently a hideous noise and shrieking being heard 
in the adjoining woods, the English snatched up their arms, and 
seized two or three aged Indians; but Pocahontas immediately 
came, and protested to Smith that he might slay her if any sur- 
prise was intended, and he was quickly satisfied that his appre- 
hensions were groundless. Then thirty young women emerged 
from the woods, all naked, save a cincture of green leaves, their 
bodies being painted; Pocahontas wearing on her head a beautiful 
pair of buck's horns, an otter's skin at her girdle and another on 
her arm ; a quiver hung on her shoulder, and she held a bow and 
arrow in her hand. Of the other nymphs, one held a sword, 
another a club, a third a pot-stick, with the antlers of the deer on 
their heads, and a variety of other savage ornaments. Bursting 
from the forest, like so many fiends, with unearthly shrieks, they 
circled around the fire singing and dancing, and thus continued 
for an hour, when they again retired to the woods. Returning, 
they invited Smith to their habitations, where, as soon as he en- 
tered, they all crowded around, hanging about him with cries of 
"Love you not me? love you not me?" They then feasted their 
guest; some serving, others singing and dancing, till at last, with 
blazing torches of light-wood, they escorted him to his lodging. 

* Smith, i. 193. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 63 

On the next day, Powhatan having arrived, Smith informed 
him of the presents that had heen sent out for him; restored to 
him Namontack, "who had been taken to England, and invited the 
chief to visit Jamestown to accept the presents, and with New- 
port's aid to revenge himself upon his enemies, the Monacans. 
Powhatan, in reply, refused to visit Jamestown, saying that he, 
too, was a king; but he consented to wait eight days to receive 
presents; as for the Monacans, he was able to avenge his griev- 
ances himself. In regard to the salt water beyond the mountains, 
of which Smith had spoken, Powhatan denied that there was any 
such, and drew lines of those regions on the ground. Smith re- 
turned to Jamestown, and the presents being sent round to We- 
rowocomoco by water, near a hundred miles, Newport and Smith, 
with fifty men, proceeded thither by the direct route across the 
neck of land that separates the James from the York. 

All being assembled at Werowocomoco, the ensuing day was 
set for the coronation, when the presents were delivered to Pow- 
hatan — a basin, ewer, bed, and furniture ready set up. A scarlet 
cloak and suit of apparel were with difficulty put upon him, Na- 
montack, meanwhile, insisting that it would not hurt him. Still 
more strenuous efforts were found necessary to make him kneel to 
receive the crown, till, at last, by dint of urgent persuasions, and 
pressing hard upon his shoulders, he was induced, reluctantly, to 
stoop a little, when three of the English placed the crown upon 
his head. At an appointed signal a volley of musketry was fired 
from the boats, and Powhatan started up from his seat in alarm, 
from which, however, he was in a few moments relieved. As if, 
by way of befitting satire upon so ridiculous a ceremony, Pow- 
hatan graciously presented his old moccasins and mantle to New- 
port, and some corn ; but refused to allow him any guides except 
Namontack. The English having purchased, in the town, a small 
additional supply of corn, left Werowocomoco, and returned to 
Jamestown. 

Shortly afterwards Newport, contrary to Smith's advice, un- 
dertook to explore the Monacan country, on the borders of the 
upper James River, with one hundred and twenty picked men, 
commanded by Captain Waldo, Lieutenant Percy, Captain 
Wynne, Mr. West, and Mr. Scrivener. Smith, with eighty or 



64 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

ninety men, seme sick, some feeble, being left at Jamestown ; 
Newport and his party, embarking in the pinnace and boats, 
■went up to the falls of the river, where, landing, they marched 
forty miles beyond on the south side in two days and a half, and 
returned by the same route, discovering two towns of the Mona- 
cans — Massinacak, and Mowchemenchouch. The natives, "the 
Stoics of the woods," evinced neither friendship nor enmity; and 
the English, out of abundant caution, took one of their chiefs, 
and led him bound at once a hostage and a guide. Having failed 
to procure any corn from the Indians, Newport's party returned 
from the exploration of this picturesque, fertile, well-watered 
region, more than half of them sick or lame, and disheartened 
with fatigue, stinted rations, and disappointed hopes of finding 
gold. 

Smith, the president, now set the colonists to work ; some to 
make glass, others to prepare tar, pitch, and soap-ashes; while 
he, in person, conducted thirty of them five miles below the fort 
to cut down trees and saw plank. Two of this lumber-party 
happened to be young gentlemen, who had arrived in the last 
supply. Smith sharing labor and hardship in common with the 
rest, these woodmen, at first, became apparently reconciled to the 
novel task, and seemed to listen with pleasure to the crashing 
thunder of the falling trees ; but when the axes began to blister 
their unaccustomed hands, they grew profane, and their frequent 
loud oaths echoed in the woods. Smith taking measures to have 
the oaths of each one numbered, in the evening, for each offence, 
poured a can of water down the offender's sleeve; and this curious 
discipline, or water-cure, was so effectual, that after it was ad- 
ministered, an oath would scarcely be heard in a week. Smith 
found that thirty or forty gentlemen who volunteered to work, 
could do more in a day than one hundred that worked by com- 
pulsion; but, he adds, that twenty good workmen would have 
been better than the whole of them put together. 

Smith finding so much time wasted, and no provisions obtained, 
and Newport's vessel lying idle at heavy charge, embarked in 
the discovery barge, taking with him eighteen men and another 
boat, and leaving orders for Lieutenant Percy to follow after 
him, went up the Chickahominy. Being overtaken by Percy, he 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 65 

procured a supply of corn. Upon his return to Jamestown, New- 
port and Ratcliffe, instigated by jealousy, attempted to depose 
Smith from the presidency, but he defeated their schemes. The 
colony suffered much loss at this time by an illicit trade carried 
on between the sailors of Newport's vessel, dishonest settlers, 
and the Indians. Smith threatened to send away the vessel and 
to oblige Newport to remain a year in the colony, so that he 
might learn to judge of affairs by his own experience, but New- 
port submitting, and acknowledging himself in the wrong, the 
threat was not executed. Scrivener visiting Werowocomoco, by 
the aid of Namontack procured another supply of corn and 
some puccoons, a root which it was supposed would make an 
excellent dye, as the Indians used its red juice to stain their 
faces. 

Newport at last sailed for England, leaving at Jamestown two 
hundred souls, carrying a cargo of such pitch, tar, glass, and 
soap-ashes as the colonists had been able to get ready. Ratcliffe, 
whose real name was discovered to be Sicklemore, was sent back 
at the same time. Smith in his letter to the council in England, 
exhibited, in caustic terms, the preposterous folly of expecting a 
present profitable return from Virginia. He sent them also his 
map of the country, drawn with so much accuracy, that it 
has been taken as the groundwork of all succeeding maps of 
Virginia. 

Not long after Newport's departure, Anne Burras was married 
at Jamestown to John Laydon, the first marriage in Virginia. 
Smith finding the provisions running low, made a voyage to 
Nansemond, and afterwards went up the James, and discovered 
the river and people of Appomattock, who gave part of their 
scanty store of corn in exchange for copper and toys. 

About this time Powhatan sent an invitation to Smith to visit 
him, and a request that he would send men to build him a house, 
and give him a grindstone, fifty swords, some guns, a cock and 
hen, with much copper, and many beads, in return for which he 
promised to load his vessel with corn. Having dispatched by 
land a party of Englishmen and four Dutchmen to build the 
house, Smith, accompanied by the brave Waldo, set out for Wero- 
wocomoco on the twenty-ninth of December, with the pinnace and 

5 



66 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

two barges manned with forty-six men. Smith went in a barge 
with six gentlemen and as many soldiers, while in the pinnace were 
Lieutenant Percy and Francis West, with a number of gentlemen 
and soldiers. The little fleet dropping down the James arrived 
on the first night at Warrasqueake, from which place Sicklemore, 
a veteran soldier, was dispatched with two Indian guides in quest 
of Sir Walter Raleigh's lost company, and of silk grass. Smith 
left Samuel Collier, his page, at Warrasqueake to learn the lan- 
guage. The party being detained, by inclement weather, a week 
at Kecoughtan, spent the holidays there among the natives, 
feasting on oysters, venison, wild-fowl, and good bread, enjoying 
also excellent fires in the dry, smoky cabins. While here Smith 
and two others killed one hundred and forty-eight wild-fowl in 
three shots. 

At Kiskiack, (now Chescake, pronounced Cheese-cake,) the 
severity of the cold again compelled the English to take shelter 
in the Indian wigwams. On the twelfth day of January they 
reached Werowocomoco. The York River being frozen over near 
half a mile from the shore, Smith, to lose no time, undertook to 
break his way through the ice; but the tide ebbing, left the barge 
aground on a shoal. In this dilemma, although the cold was ex- 
treme, Smith jumping into the icy river, set the example to his 
men of wading near waist deep to the shore, where, quartering in 
the first cabins that they reached, they sent to Powhatan for 
provisions. On the following day he supplied them abundantly 
with bread, wild turkeys, and venison. Like Nestor of old, he 
told Smith somewhat extravagantly, that he had seen the death 
of all of his people thrice; that he was now old and must ere 
long die; that his brothers, Opitchapan, Opechancanough, and 
Kekataugh, his two sisters, and their two daughters, were to be 
his successors. He deprecated war, and declared that when he 
and his people, forced to fly by fear of the English, lay in the 
woods, exposed to cold and hunger, if a twig but broke, every one 
cried out, "There comes Captain Smith." At length, after a 
long dialogue, Powhatan still obstinately insisting that the Eng- 
lish should lay aside their arms, Smith gave orders privately to 
his people in the boat to approach and capture him. Discovering 
their design he fled with his women and children, while his war- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 67 

riors beset the cabin where Smith was. With pistol, sword, and 
target, he rushed out among them and fired; some fell one over 
another, the rest escaped. 

Powhatan, finding himself in Smith's power, to make his peace 
sent him, by an aged orator, a large bracelet and a string of 
beads, and in the mean while the savages, goodly, well-formed 
fellows, but grim-looking, carried the corn on their backs clown 
to the boats. The barges of the English being left aground by 
the ebb-tide, they were obliged to wait till the next high-water; 
and they returned ashore to lodge in some Indian wigwams. 

Powhatan, and the treacherous Dutchmen who had been sent 
to build him a house, and who were attracted by the abundant 
good cheer that they enjoyed at Werowocomoco, now together 
plotted Smith's destruction. But Pocahontas, the chieftain's 
dearest jewel, in that dark night, passing through the gloomy 
woods, told Smith that great cheer would soon be sent to him, 
but that her father with all his force would quickly come and 
kill him and all the English, with their own weapons, while at sup- 
per ; that therefore, if he would live, she wished him to go at once. 
Smith would have given her such toys as she delighted in; but, 
with tears streaming down her cheeks, she said that she would 
not dare to be seen to have them, for if her father should know 
it she would die ; and so she ran away by herself as she had come. 
The attempt to surprise Smith was accordingly soon after made; 
but, forewarned, he readily defeated the design. 

Upon the return of the tide, Smith and his party embarked for 
Pamaunkee, at the head of the river, leaving with Powhatan Ed- 
ward Boynton, to kill fowl for him, and the Dutchmen, whose 
treachery was not as yet suspected, to finish his house. As the 
party sent forward to build the house had been there about two 
weeks, and as the chimney is erected after the house, it may be 
probably inferred that "Powhatan's Chimney" was built by the 
Dutchmen. It indeed looks like a chimney of one of those Dutch 
houses described by Irving in his inimitable "Legend of Sleepy 
Hollow." It is the oldest relic of construction now extant in 
Virginia, and is associated with the most interesting incident in 
our early history. This chimney is built of stone found on the 



68 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

banks of Tiinberneck Bay, and easily quarried; it is eighteen 
and a half feet high, ten and a half wide at the base, and has a 
double flue. The fire-place is eight feet wide, with an oaken beam 
across. The chimney stands on an eminence, and is conspicuous 
from every quarter of the bay ; and itself a monumental evidence 
of no inconsiderable import. That the colonists would construct 
for Powhatan's house a durable and massive chimney there is 
every reason to believe, and here is such a one still extant, and 
still retaining, through all the mutations of time, the traditional 
name of "Powhatan's Chimney." There is no other such chim- 
ney in all that region, nor the remains of such a one. At the 
foot of the yard, and at a short distance from the chimney, which 
is still in use, being attached to a modern farm-house, is a fine 
spring, formerly shaded by a venerable umbrageous red-oak, of 
late years blown down. In the rivulet that steals along a ravine 
from the spring, Pocahontas sported in her childhood. Her 
name, according to Heckwelder, signifies "a rivulet between two 
hills," but this is denied by others. 

In the early annals of Virginia, Werowocomoco is second only 
to Jamestown in historical and romantic interest; as Jamestown 
was the seat of the English settlers, so Werowocomoco was the 
favorite residence of the Indian monarch Powhatan. It was here 
that, when Smith was about to meet his fate, 

"An angel knelt in woman's form 
And breathed a prayer for him." 

It was here that Powhatan was crowned by the conceited New- 
port ; here that supplies for the colony were frequently procured ; 
here that occurred so many interviews and rencontres between 
the red men and the whites. Here, two centuries and a half ago, 
dwelt the famous old Powhatan, tall, erect, stern, apparently 
beardless, his hair a little frosted with gray. Here he beheld, 
with barbarous satisfaction, the scalps of his enemies recently 
massacred, suspended on a line between two trees, and waving in 
the breeze; here he listened to recitals of hunting and blood, 
and in the red glare of the council-fire planned schemes of per- 
fidy and revenge ; here he sate and smoked, sometimes observing 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 69 

Pocahontas at play, sometimes watching the fleet canoe comin^ 
in from the Pamaunkee. Werowocomoco was a befitting; seat of 
the great chief, overlooking the bay, with its bold, picturesque, 
wood-crowned banks, and in view of the wide majestic flood of 
the river, empurpled by transient cloud-shadows, or tinged with 
the rosy splendor of a summer sunset. 



CHAPTER V. 

I6OS-I6OO. 

Smith visits Pamaunkee — Seizes Opechancanough — Goes back to Werowoconioco 
— Procures Supplies — Returns to Jamestown — Smith's Rencontre with Chief 
of Paspahegh — Fort built — " The Old Stone House" — Colonists dispersed to 
procure Subsistence— Tuckahoe-root — Smith's Discipline — New Charter — 
Lord Delaware appointed Governor — Fleet dispatched for Virginia — Sea-Ven- 
ture ; cast away on Tsland of Bermuda — Seven Vessels reach Virginia — Disor- 
ders that ensued — Smith's Efforts to quell them — He Embarks for England — 
His Character, Life, and Writings. 

Smith and his party had no sooner set sail from Werowoco- 
moco, up the river, than Powhatan returned, and dispatched two 
of the Dutchmen to Jamestown. The two emissaries, by false 
pretences and the assistance of some of the colonists, who con- 
federated with them, succeeded in procuring a supply of arms and 
ammunition, which were conveyed to Powhatan by some of his 
people who were at hand for that purpose. In the mean time the 
other Dutchman, who had been retained by Powhatan as a host- 
age, provided him with three hundred stone tomahawks. Edward 
Boynton and Thomas Savage, discovering the treachery, at- 
tempted to make their escape back to Jamestown, but were ap- 
prehended and taken back, and expected every moment to be 
put to death. 

During this interval, Smith having arrived at Pamunkey, at 
the junction of the Pamunkey and the Matapony, landed with 
Lieutenant Percy and others, to the number of fifteen, and pro- 
ceeded to Opechancanough's residence, a quarter of a mile back 
from the river. The town was found deserted by all, except a 
lame man and a boy, and the cabins stripped of everything. In 
a short time the chief of the warlike Pamunkies returned, accom- 
panied by some of his people, armed with bows and arrows. 
After some conference, Smith finding himself deceived as to the 
supply of corn which had been promised, reproached the chief 
(70) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 71 

for his treachery. Opecliancanough, to veil his designs, agreed 
to sell what scanty commodities he then had, at Smith's own 
price, and promised to bring on the morrow a larger supply. On 
the next day Smith, with the same party, marched again up to 
Opechancanough's residence, where they found four or five In- 
dians, who had just arrived, each carrying a large basket. Soon 
after the chief made his appearance, and with an air of frankness 
began to tell what pains he had been at to fulfil his promise, 
when Mr. Russel brought word that several hundred of the In- 
dians had surrounded the house where the English were. Smith, 
perceiving that some of his party were terrified, exhorted them 
"to fight like men and not die like sheep." Reproaching Ope- 
cliancanough for his murderous designs, he challenged him to de- 
cide the dispute in single combat on a neighboring island. The 
wily chief declining that mode of settlement, endeavored to in- 
veigle Smith into an ambuscade, when his treachery being mani- 
fest, the president seized him by the forelock, and with a cocked 
pistol at his breast, led him, trembling, in the midst of his own 
people. Overcome with terror, Opecliancanough surrendered his 
vambrace, bow, and arrows; and his dismayed followers threw 
down their arms. Men, women, and children, now brought in 
their commodities to trade with the English. Smith, overcome 
with fatigue, retired into a cabin to rest ; and while he was asleep, 
a party of the Indians, armed with swords and tomahawks, made 
an attempt to surprise him, but starting up at the noise, he, with 
the help of some of his comrades, soon put the intruders to 
flight. 

During this time, Scrivener, misled by letters received from 
England, began to grow ambitious of supplanting Smith, who 
was cordially attached to him ; and setting out from Jamestown 
for Hog Island, on a stormy day, in company of Captain Waldo, 
Anthony Gosnold, and eight others, the boat was sunk and all 
were lost. When no one else could be found willing to convey 
this intelligence to Smith, Richard Wyffin volunteered to under- 
take it. At Werowocomoco he was shielded from danger by Po- 
cahontas, who, in every emergency, still proved herself the 
tutelary angel of the colony. Wyffin having overtaken Smith at 
Pamunkey, he concealed the news of the recent disaster from his 



72 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

party, and, releasing Opechancanough, returned down the river. 
On the following morning, a little after sunrise, the bank of the 
river swarmed with Indians, unarmed, carrying baskets, to tempt 
Smith ashore, under pretence of trade. Smith, landing with 
Percy and two others, was received by Powhatan at the head of 
two or three hundred warriors formed in two crescents; some 
twenty men and a number of women carrying painted baskets. 
Smith attempted to inveigle Powhatan into an ambuscade, but the 
savages, on a nearer approach, discovering the English with arms 
in their hands, fled. However, the natives, some days afterwards, 
from all parts of the country, within a circuit of ten or twelve 
miles, in the snow brought, on their naked backs, corn for Smith's 
party. 

Smith next went up the Youghtanund (now Pamunkey) and 
the Matapony. On the banks of this little river the poor Indians 
gave up their scanty store of corn with such tears and lamenta- 
tions of women and children as touched the hearts of the English 
with compassion.* 

Returning, he descended the York as far as Werowocomoco, 
intending to surprise Powhatan there, and thus secure a further 
supply of corn ; but Powhatan had abandoned his new house, and 
had carried away all his corn and provisions; and Smith, with his 
party, returned to Jamestown. In this expedition, with twenty- 
five pounds of copper and fifty pounds of iron, and some beads, 
he procured, in exchange, two hundred pounds of deer suet, and 
delivered to the Cape-merchant four hundred and seventy-nine 
bushels of corn. 

At James-toAvn the provision of the public store had been 
spoiled by exposure to the rain of the previous summer, or eaten 
by rats and worms. The colonists had been living there, in indo- 
lence, and a large part of their implements and arms bad been 
trafficked away to the Indians. Smith undertook to remedy these 
disorders by discipline and labor, relieved by pastimes and recrea- 
tions ; and he established it as a rule, that he who would not work, 

* The word Matapony is said to signify " no bread at all." The four con- 
fluents of this river, on modern maps, are whimsically named Ma, Ta. Po, and 
Ny, being the four component syllables of the word. Captain Smith calls it the 
Matapanient. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 73 

should not eat. The whole government of the colony was now, 
in effect, devolved upon him — Captain Wynne being the only other 
surviving councillor, and the president having two votes. Shortly 
after Smith's return, he met the Chief of Paspahegh near James- 
town, and had a rencontre with him. This athletic savage at- 
tempting to shoot him, he closed and grappled, when, by main 
strength, the chief forced him into the river to drown him. They 
struggled long in the water, until Smith, grasping the savage by 
the throat, well-nigh strangled him, and, drawing his sword, was 
about to cut off his head, when he begged for his life so piteously 
that Smith spared him, and led him prisoner to Jamestown, where 
he put him in chains. He was daily visited by his wives, and 
children, and people, who brought presents to ransom him. At 
last he made his escape. Captain Wynne and Lieutenant Percy 
were dispatched, with a party of fifty, to recapture him, fail- 
ing in which they burned the chief's cabin, and carried away 
his canoes. Smith now going out to "try his conclusions" 
with " the salvages," slew some, and made some prisoners, 
burned their cabins, and took their canoes and fishing weirs. 
Shortly afterwards the president, passing through Paspahegh, on 
his way to the Chickahominy, was assaulted by the Indians ; but, 
upon his firing, and their discovering who he was, they threw down 
their arms, and sued for peace. Okaning, a young warrior, who 
spoke in their behalf, in justifying the escape of their chief from 
imprisonment at Jamestown, said: "The fishes swim, the fowls 
fly, and the very beasts strive to escape the snare, and live." 
Smith's vigorous measures, together with some accidental circum- 
stances, dismayed the savages, that from this time -to the end of 
his administration, they gave no further trouble. 

A blqck-house was now built in the neck of the Jamestown 
Peninsula ; and it was guarded by a garrison, who alone were au- 
thorized to trade with the Indians; and neither Indians nor 
whites were suffered to pass in or out without the president's 
leave. Thirty or forty acres of land were planted with corn; 
twenty additional houses were built; the hogs were kept at Hog 
Island, and increased rapidly; and poultry was raised without the 
necessity of feeding. A block-house was garrisoned at Hog 
Island for the purpose of telegraphing shipping arrived in the 



74 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

river. Captain Wynne, sole surviving councillor, dying, the 
whole government devolved upon Smith. He built a fort, as a 
place of refuge in case of being compelled to retreat from James- 
town, on a convenient river, upon a high commanding hill, very 
hard to be assaulted, and easy of defence. But the scarcity of 
provisions prevented its completion.* This is, no doubt, the 
diminutive structure known as "the Old Stone House," in James 
City County, on Ware Creek, a tributary of York River. It 
stands about five miles from the mouth of the creek, and twenty- 
two from Jamestown. It is built of sandstone found on the bank 
of the creek, and without mortar. The walls and chimney still 
remain. This miniature fortress is eighteen and a half feet by 
fifteen in size, and consists of a basement under ground, and one 
story above. On one side is a doorway, six feet wide, giving 
entrance to both apartments. The walls are pierced with loop- 
holes, and the masonry is exact. This little fort stands in a wil- 
derness, on a high, steep bluff, at the foot of which Ware Creek 
meanders. The Old Stone House is approached only by a long, 
narrow ridge, surrounded by gloomy forests and dark ravines 
overgrown with ivy. It is the oldest house in Virginia ; and its 
age and sequestered situation have connected with it fanciful 
stories of Smith and Pocahontas, and the hidden treasures of 
the pirate Blackbeard. 

The store of provisions at Jamestown was so wasted by rats, 
introduced by the vessels, that all the works of the colonists were 
brought to an end, and they were employed only in procuring 
food. Two Indians that had been some time before captured by 
Smith, had been until the present time kept fettered prisoners, 
but made to perform double tasks, and to instruct the settlers in 
the cultivation of corn. The prisoners were released for .want of 
provision, but were so well satisfied as to remain. For upwards 
of two weeks the Indians from the surrounding country supplied 
the colony daily with squirrels, turkeys, deer, and other game, 
while the rivers afforded an abundance of wild-fowl. Smith also 
bought from Powhatan half of his stock of corn. But, never- 
theless, it was found necessary to distribute the settlers in dif- 

* Smith, i. 227. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 75 

ferent parts of the country to procure subsistence. Sergeant 
Laxon, with sixty or eighty of them, was sent down the river to 
live upon oysters ; Lieutenant Percy with twenty, to find fish at 
Point Comfort; West, brother of Lord Delaware, with an equal 
number, repaired to the falls, where, however, nothing edible was 
found but a few acorns. Hitherto the whole body of the colonists 
had been provided for by the courage and industry of some thirty 
or forty. 

The main article of their diet was, for a time, sturgeon, an 
abundant supply of which was procured during the season. It 
not only served for meat, but when dried and pounded, and mixed 
with herbs, supplied the place of bread. Of the spontaneous pro- 
ductions of the soil, the principal article of sustenance was the 
tuckahoe-root, of which one man could gather enough in a day to 
supply him with bread for a week. The tockawhoughe, as it is 
called by Smith, was, in the summer, a principal article of diet 
among the natives. It grows in marshes like a flag, and re- 
sembles, somewhat, the potato in size and flavor. Haw it is no 
better than poison, so that the Indians were accustomed to roast 
it, and eat it mixed with sorel and corn-meal.* There is another 
root found in Virginia called tuckahoe, and confounded with the 
flag-like root described above, and erroneously supposed by many 
to grow without stem or leaf. It appears to be of the convolvu- 
lus species, and is entirely unlike the root eaten by the James- 
town settlers, f 

Such was the indolence of the greater number of the colonists, 
that it seemed as if they would sooner starve than take the 
trouble of procuring food; and at length their mutinous discon- 
tents arose to such a pitch that Smith arrested the ringleader of 
the malecontents, and ordered that whoever failed to provide daily 
as much food as he should consume, should be banished from 
Jamestown as a drone. Of the two hundred settlers, many were 
billeted among the Indians, and thus became familiar with their 
habits and manner of life. 

* Smith, i. 123 ; Beverley's Hist, of Va., iii. 15. I refer to the first edition of 
1705, which does not differ materially from the second edition of 1722. 

f Farmer's Register for April, 1839, ix. 3; Jefferson's Notes on Va., 33; 
Rees' Cyclopaedia, art. Tuckahoe; Fremont's Report, 135, 100. 



76 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Sicklemore, who had been dispatched to Chowanock, returned, 
after a fruitless search for Sir Walter Raleigh's people. He 
found the Chowan River not large ; the country generally over- 
grown with pines; pemminaw, or silk-grass growing here and 
there. Two other messengers, sent to the country of the Man- 
goags in quest of the lost settlers, learned that they were all 
dead. Guides had been supplied by the hospitable chief of the 
Quiyoughcohannocks to convoy the messengers. This chief was 
of all others most friendly to the whites ; although a superstitious 
worshipper of his own gods, yet he acknowledged that they were 
as inferior to the English God in power as the bow and arrow 
were inferior to the English gun; and he often sent presents to 
Smith, begging him "to pray to the English God for rain, else 
his corn would perish, for his gods were angry." 

The Virginia Company in England, mainly intent on pecu- 
niary gain and quick returns, were discouraged by the disasters 
that had befallen the colony, and disappointed in their visionary 
hopes of the discovery of gold mines, and of a passage to the 
South Sea. They therefore took measures to procure from King 
James a new charter, abrogating the existing one, and investing 
them with ampler powers. Having associated with themselves a 
numerous body of additional stockholders, or adventurers, as they 
were then styled, including many persons of rank, and wealth, 
and influence, they succeeded in obtaining from the king a new 
charter, dated May 23d, 1609, transferring to the Company 
several important powers before reserved to the crown. By this 
charter the extent of Virginia was much enlarged, the eastern 
boundary being a line extending two hundred miles north of Point 
Comfort, and two hundred miles south of it, the northern and 
southern boundaries being parallels drawn through the extremi- 
ties of the eastern boundary back to the South Sea or Pacific — 
the western boundary being the Pacific. 

By the provisions of the new charter the Virginia Company 
became indeed apparently more independent and republican, but 
under the new system the governor of the colony was indued with 
arbitary power, and authorized to declare martial-law ; and the 
condition of the colonists became even worse than before. This 
sudden repeal of the former charter evinced an ingratitude for 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 77 

the services of Smith and his associates, who, under it, had en- 
dured the toil, and privations, and dangers of the first settlement. 

The Supreme Council in England, now chosen by the stock- 
holders themselves, appointed Sir Thomas West, Lord Delaware, 
Governor and Captain- General of Virginia. He was the third 
Lord Delaware, and the present (1843) Earl Delaware, John 
George West, is his lineal descendant. Sir Thomas Gates was 
appointed Lieutenant-Governor, and Sir George Somers, Admiral. 
Sir George was a member of Parliament, but upon being ap- 
pointed to a colonial post his seat was declared vacant. 

Nine vessels were speedily fitted out, with supplies of men and 
women, five hundred in number, and provisions and other stores 
for the eolony. Newport, who was entrusted with the command 
of the fleet, and Gates and Somers, were each severally authorized, 
whichever might happen first to reach Jamestown, to supersede 
the existing administration there until the arrival of Lord Dela- 
ware, who was not to embark for several months, and who did 
not reach Virginia until the lapse of more than a year. This 
abundant caution defeated itself, for Newport, and the lieutenant- 
governor, and the admiral, finding it impossible to adjust the 
point of precedence among themselves, embarked together by way 
of compromise, in the same vessel, the Sea- Venture.* 

The expedition sailed from Plymouth toward the end of May, 
1609, and going, contrary to instructions, by the old circuitous 
route, via the Canaries and the West Indies, late in July, when 
in latitude thirty degrees north, and, as was supposed, within 
eight days' sail of Virginia, they were caught "in the tail of a hur- 
ricane," blowing from the northeast, accompanied by an appalling 
darkness, that continued for forty-four hours. Some of the ves- 
sels lost their masts, some their sails blown from the yards, the 
sea breaking over the ships. 



* The following is a list of the vessels and their commanders: the Sea-Adven- 
ture, or Sea-Venture, Admiral Sir George Somers, with Sir Thomas Gates and 
Captain Christopher Newport; the Diamond, Captain Uatcliffe and Captain King; 
the Falcon, Captain Martin and jNIajtex-Nelsxin-; the Blessing, Gabriel Archer 
atfd Captain Adams; the Unity, Captain Wood and Master Pett ;Tne Lion, Cap- 
tain Webb ; the Swallow, Captain Moon and Master Somers. There were also 
in company two smaller craft, a ketch and a pinnace. 



78 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

"When rattling thunder ran along the clouds, 
Did not the sailors poor and masters proud 
A terror feel, as struck with fear of God?"* 

A small vessel was lost, July twenty-fourth, and the Sea- Ven- 
ture, with Newport, Gates, Somers, and one hundred and fifty 
settlers, destined for Virginia, was separated from the other ves- 
sels of the expedition. The other vessels, shattered by the storm, 
and having suffered the loss of the greater portion of their sup- 
plies, and many of their number by sickness, at length reached 
Jamestown in August, 1609. They brought back Ratcliffe, or 
Sicklemore, who had been remanded to England on account of 
his mutinous conduct, also Martin and Archer, together with 
sundry other captains, and divers gentlemen of good means and 
high birth, and about three hundred settlers, the greater part of 
them profligate youths, packed off from home to escape ill des- 
tinies, broken-down gentlemen, bankrupt tradesmen, and the like, 
"decayed tapsters, and ostlers trade-fallen, the cankers of a calm 
world and long peace." 

Upon the appearance of this fleet near Jamestown, Smith, not 
expecting such a supply, took them to be Spaniards, and pre- 
pared to encounter them, and the Indians readily offered their 
assistance. The colony had already, before the arrival of the 
fleet, been threatened with anarchy, owing to intelligence of the 
premature repeal of the charter, brought out by Captain Argall, 
and the new settlers had now no sooner landed than they gave 
rise to new confusion and disorder. The factious leaders, although 
they brought no commission with them, insisted on the abrogation 
of the existing charter, rejected the authority of Smith, whom 
they hated and feared, and undertook to usurp the government. 
Their capricious folly equalled their insolence; to-day the old 
commission must rule, to-morrow the new, the next day neither — 
thus, by continual change, plunging all things into anarchy. 

Smith, filled with disgust, would cheerfully have embarked for 
England, but seeing little prospect of the arrival of the new com- 
mission, (which was in the possession of Gates on the Island of 
Bermudas,) he resolved to put an end to these incessant plots and 

* Smith's Hist of Va. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 79 

machinations. The ringleaders, Ratcliffe, Archer, and others, 
he arrested; to cut off another source of disturbance, he gave 
permission to Percy, who was in feeble health, to embark for 
England, of which, however, he did not avail himself. West, with 
one hundred and twenty picked men, was detached to the falls 
of James River, and Martin, with nearly the same number, to 
Nansemond. Smith's presidency having expired about this time, 
he had been succeeded by Martin, who, conscious of his incompe- 
tency, had immediately resigned it to Smith. Martin, at Nanse- 
mond, seized the chief, and, capturing the town, occupied it with 
his detachment; but owing to want of judgment, or of vigilance, 
he suffered himself to be surprised by the savages, who slew many 
of his party, rescued the chief, and carried off their corn. Mar- 
tin not long after returned to Jamestown, leaving his detachment 
to shift for themselves. 

Smith going up the river to West's settlement at the falls, 
found the English planted in a place not only subject to the 
river's inundation, but "surrounded by many intolerable incon- 
veniences." To remedy these, by a messenger he proposed to 
purchase from Powhatan his seat of that name, a little lower down 
the river. The settlers scornfully rejected the scheme, and be- 
came so mutinous that Smith landed among them and arrested 
the chief malecontents. But overpowered by numbers, being sup- 
ported by only five men, he was forced to retire on board of a 
vessel lying in the river. The Indians daily supplied him with 
provisions, in requital for which the English plundered their corn, 
robbed their cultivated ground, beat them, broke into their cabins, 
and made them prisoners. They complained to Captain Smith 
that the men whom he had sent there as their protectors, "were 
worse than their old enemies, the Monacans." Smith embarking, 
had no sooner set sail for Jamestown than many of West's party 
were slain by the savages. 

It so happened, that before Smith's vessel had dropped a 
mile and a half down the river, she ran aground, whereupon, 
making a virtue of necessity, he summoned the mutineers to 
a parley, and they, now seized with a panic, on account of the 
assault of a mere handful of Indians, submitted themselves to his 
mercy. He again arrested the ringleaders, and established tho 



80 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

rest of the party at Powhatan, in the Indian palisade fort, which 
was so well fortified by poles and bark as to defy all the savages 
in Virginia. Dry cabins were also found there, and nearly two 
hundred acres of ground ready to be planted, and it was called 
Nonsuch, as being at once the strongest and most delightful place 
in the country. Nonsuch was the name of a royal residence in 
England. 

When Smith was now on the eve of his departure, the arrival 
of West again threw all things aback into confusion. Nonsuch 
was abandoned, and all hands returned to the falls, and Smith, 
finding all his efforts abortive, embarked in a boat for Jamestown. 
During the voyage he was terribly wounded while asleep, by the 
accidental explosion of a bag of gunpowder, and in the paroxysm 
of pain he leapt into the river, and was well-nigh drowned before 
his companions could rescue him. Arriving at Jamestown in this 
helpless condition, he was again assailed by faction and mutiny, 
and one of his enemies even presented a cocked pistol at him in 
his bed ; but the hand wanted the nerve to execute what the heart 
was base enough to design. 

Ratcliffe, Archer, and their confederates, laid plans to usurp 
the government of the colony, whereupon Smith's faithful soldiers, 
fired with indignation at conduct so infamous, begged for permis- 
sion to strike off their heads ; but this he refused. He refused 
also to surrender the presidency to Percy. For this, Smith is 
censured by the historian Stith, who yet acknowledges that 
Percy was in too feeble health to control a mutinous colony. 
Anarchy being triumphant, Smith probably deemed it useless to 
appoint a governor over a mob. He at last, about Michaelmas, 
1609, embarked for England, after a stay of a little more than 
two years in Virginia,* to which he never returned. 

Here, then, closes the career of Captain John Smith in Vir- 
ginia, " the father of the colony," and a hero like Bayard, "without 
fear and without reproach." One of his comrades, in deploring 
his departure, describes him as one who, in all his actions, made 
justice and prudence his guides, abhorring baseness, idleness, 
pride, and injustice; that in no danger would he send others where 

* Smith, i. 239. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 81 

he would not lead them himself; that would never see his men 
want what he had, or could by any means procure ; that would 
rather want than borrow, and rather starve than not pay; that 
loved action more than words, and hated falsehood and avarice 
worse than death; "whose adventures were our lives, and whose 
loss our deaths." Another of his soldiers said of him: — 

" I never knew a warrior but thee, 
From wine, tobacco, debts, dice, oaths, so free." 

From the time of Smith's departure from Virginia to the year 
1614, little is known of him. In that year he made his first 
voyage to New England. In the following year, after many dis- 
appointments, sailing again in a small vessel for that country, 
after a running fight with, and narrow escape from, two French 
privateers, near Fayal, he was captured, near Flores, by a half- 
piratical French squadron. After long detention he was carried 
to Rochelle, in France, and there charged with having burned 
Port Royal, in New France, which act had been committed by 
Captain Argall. Smith, at length, at the utmost hazard, escaped 
from his captors, and being assisted by several of the inhabitants 
of Rochelle, especially by Madame Chanoyes, he was enabled to 
return to England. The protective sympathy exhibited toward 
him, at several critical conjunctures, is thus mentioned in some 
complimentary verses prefixed to his History of Virginia: — 

" Tragabigzanda, Callamata's love, 
Deare Pocahontas, Madam Shanoi's too, 
Who did what love with modesty could do." 

In 1616 Smith published his "Description of New England," 
composed while he was a prisoner on board of the French piratical 
vessel, in order, as he says, to keep his perplexed thoughts from 
too much meditation on his miserable condition. The Plymouth 
Company now conferred upon him the title of Admiral of New 
England. It was during this year that Pocahontas visited Eng- 
land. After this time, Smith never again visited America. 
When, in 1622, the news of the massacre reached England, he 
proposed to come over to Virginia with a proper force to reduce 
the savages to subjection, but his proposal was not accepted. 

6 



82 HISTOKY OF THE COLONY AND 

Captain Smith received little or no recompense for his colonial 
discoveries, labors, and sacrifices ; and after having spent five years, 
and more than five hundred pounds, in the service of Virginia 
and New England, he complains that in neither of those countries 
has he one foot of land, nor even the house that he built, nor the 
ground that he cultivated with his own hands, nor even any con- 
tent or satisfaction at all, while he beheld those countries bestowed 
upon men who neither could have them, nor even know of them 
but by his descriptions. It is remarkable that in his "Newes 
from Virginia," published in 1608, no allusion is made to his 
rescue by Pocahontas. In 1612 appeared his work entitled "A 
Map of Virginia, with a Description of the Country, Commodi- 
ties, People, Government, and Religion, etc.," and in 1620, 
"New England Trials." In 1626 was published his "General 
History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles," the 
greater part of which had already been published in 1625, by 
Purchas, in his "Pilgrim." The second and sixth books of this 
history were composed by Smith himself; the third was compiled 
by Rev. William Simons, Doctor of Divinity, and the rest by 
Smith from the letters and journals of about thirty different 
writers. During the year 1625 he published "An Accidence, or 
the Pathway to Experience necessary for all young Seamen," and 
in 1627 "A Sea Grammar." In 1630 he gave to the public 
"The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captain 
John Smith, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, from 1593 
to 1629." This work, together with "The General History," was 
republished by Rev. Dr. John H. Rice, in 1819, at Richmond, 
Virginia. The copy is exact and complete, except some maps 
and engravings of but little value. The obsolete orthography and 
typography of the work confines it to a limited circle of readers. 
It is now out of print and rare. In 1631 Smith published "Ad- 
vertisements for the unexperienced planters of New England, or 
anywhere," etc., said to be the most elaborate of his productions. 
The learned, judicious, and accurate historian, Grahame, considers 
Smith's writings on colonization, superior to those of Lord 
Bacon. At the time of his death, Smith was engaged in com- 
posing a "History of the Sea." So famous was he in his own 
day, that he complains of some extraordinary incidents in his life 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 83 

having been Misrepresented on the stage. He was gifted by na- 
ture with a person and address of singular fascination. He mar- 
ried, and the author of a recent interesting English book of 
travels, a lineal descendant, refers with just pride to his distin- 
guished ancestor: "On the upper waters of the Alt, near the 
celebrated Rothen Thurni, (or Red Tower,) several severe engage- 
ments ushered in the seventeenth century. It was at this time 
that the wave of Mohammedan conquest rolled on, and broke 
over Hungary, Transylvania, and "Wallachia, and, whether ad- 
vancing or retiring, swept those unfortunate lands with equal 
severity. Sigismund Bathori, after holding his own for awhile 
in Transylvania against the emperor, was obliged to succumb; 
the Voyvode of Wallachia, appointed by the Porte, aroused, by 
his cruelties, an insurrection against him, and the moment ap- 
peared favorable for thrusting back the Turkish power beyond 
the Danube. The Austrian party not only appointed a new Voy- 
vode, but marched a large army, chiefly Hungarian, into the 
country, and were at first victorious, in a well-contested battle. 
But, at length, between the river and the heights of the Rothen 
Thurm range, the Christian army was attacked with impetuosity 
by a far greater number, composed principally of Tartars, and 
was entirely cut to pieces. In this catastrophe several English 
officers, serving with the Hungarian army, were slain; and an 
ancestor of the author s, who was left for dead on the field, after 
describing this 'dismall battell,' gives their names, and observes 
that 'they did what men could do, and when they could do no 
more, left there their bodies in testimony of their mind.'"* 

Captain John Smith died at London, 1631, in the fifty-second 
year of his age. He was buried in St. Sepulchre's Church, 
Skinner Street, London; and from Stowe's Survey of London, 
printed in 1633, it appears there was a tablet erected to his me- 
mory in that church, inscribed with his motto, "Vincere est 
vivere," and the following epitaph: — 

Here lies one conquered that hath conquered kings, 
Subdued large territories, and done things 
Which, to the world, impossible would seem, 
But that the truth is held in more esteem. 

* A Year with the Turks, by Warington W. Smyth, A.M., 27. 



84 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

►Shall I report his former service done 

In honor of God and Christendom, 

How that he did divide from pagans three 

Their heads and lives, types of his chivalry ; 

For which great service, in that climate done, 

Brave Sigismundus, (King of Hungarion,) 

Did give him a coat of arms to wear, 

Those conquered heads got by his sword and spear? 

Or shall I tell of his adventures since 

Done in Virginia, that large continent, 

How that he subdued kings unto his yoke, 

And made those heathens fly as wind doth smoke, 

And made their land, being of so large a station, 

A habitation for our Christian nation, 

Where God is glorified, their wants supplied, 

Which else for necessaries might have died? 

But what avails his conquest? now he lies 

Interred in earth, a prey for worms and flies. 

may his soul in sweet Elysium sleep 

Until the Keeper, that all souls doth keep, 

Return to judgment, and that after thence 

With angels he may have his recompense. 

The tablet was destroyed by the great fire in the year 1666, 
and all now remaining to the memory of Captain Smith is a large 
flat stone, in front of the communion-table, engraved with his 
coat of arms, upon which the three Turks' heads are still distin- 
guishable.* The historian Grahame concludes a notice of him 
in these words: "But Smith's renown will break forth again, and 
once more be commensurate with his desert. It will grow with 
the growth of men and letters in America, and whole nations of 
its admirers have yet to be born." A complete edition of his 
works would be a valuable addition to American historical litera- 
ture. The sculptor's art ought to present a fitting memorial of 
him and of Pocahontas, in the metropolis of Virginia. 

* Godwin's Churches of London, i. 9. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Indians of Virginia — Their Form and Features — Mode of wearing their 
Hair — Clothing — Ornaments — Manner of Living — Diet — Towns and Cabins — 
Arms and Implements — lleligion — Medicine — The Seasons — Hunting — Sham- 
fights — Music — Indian Character. 

The mounds — monuments of a primitive race, found scattered 
over many parts of North America, especially in the valley of the 
Mississippi — have long attracted the attention of men curious in 
such speculations. These heir-looms of dim, oblivious centuries, 
seem to whisper mysteriously of a shadowy race, populous, noma- 
dic, not altogether uncivilized, idolatrous, worshipping "in high 
places." The Anglo-Saxon ploughshare is busy in obliterating 
these memorials, but many yet survive, and many, perhaps, re- 
main yet to be discovered. Whether they were the work of the 
progenitors of the Indians, or of a race long since extinct, is a 
question for such as have taste and leisure for such abstruse in- 
quiries. The general absence of written language and of archi- 
tectural remains, indicates a low grade of civilization, and yet the 
relics that have been disinterred, and the enormous extent of 
some of their earth-works, would argue a degree of art, and of 
collective industry, to which the Indians are entire strangers. 
We may, at the least, conclude that either they, in the lapse of 
ages, have greatly degenerated, or that the mound-makers were 
a distinct and superior race. Some of these mounds are found 
in Virginia. The most remarkable of these is the Mammoth 
Mound, in the County of Marshall. Mr. Jefferson* was of 
opinion that there is nothing extant in Virginia deserving the 
name of an Indian monument, as he would not dignify with that 
name their stone arrow-points, tomakawks, pipes, and rude images. 
Of labor on a large scale there is no remain, unless it be the bar- 
rows, or mounds, of which many are found all over this country. 



* Notes on Va., 104, ed. 1853. 

(85) 



86 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

They are of different sizes; some of them constructed of earth, 
and some of loose stones. That they were repositories of the 
dead is obvious, but on what occasion they were constructed 
is a matter of doubt. Mr. Jefferson opened one of them near 
Monticello, and found it filled with human bones. The Mammoth 
Mound in Marshall County is 69 feet high, 900 in circumference 
at the base; in shape the frustrum of a cone, with a flat top 50 
feet in diameter. An oak standing on the top has been estimated 
to be five hundred years old. In the interior have been dis- 
covered vaults, with pieces of timber, human skeletons, ivory 
beads, and other ivory ornaments, sea-shells, copper bracelets 
around the wrists of skeletons, with laminated mica, and a stone 
with hieroglyphic characters inscribed on it, in the opinion of 
some, of African origin. The whole mass of the mound is studded 
with blue spots, supposed to have been occasioned by depo- 
sites of the remains of human bodies consumed by fire. Seven 
lesser mounds are connected with the main one by low entrench- 
ments. Some rude towers of stone, greatly dilapidated, are also 
found in the neighborhood. Porcelain beads are picked up, and 
a stone idol has been found, as also tubes of lead, blue steatite, 
syphon-like, drilled, twelve inches long, and finely polished. 

The places of habitation of the Indians may yet be identified 
along the banks of rivers, by the deposites of shells of oysters and 
muscles, which they subsisted upon, as also of ashes and charred 
wood, arrow-points, fragments of pottery, pipes, tomahawks, 
mortars, etc. Vestiges may be traced of their moving back their 
cabins when urged by the accumulation of shells and ashes. 
Standing on such a spot one's fancy may almost repeople it with 
the shadowy forms of the aborigines, and imagine the flames of 
the council-fire projecting its reel glare upon the face of the York 
or the James, and hear their wild cries mingling with the dash 
of waves and the roar of the forest. Here they rejoice over their 
victories, plan new enterprises of blood, and celebrate the war- 
dance by the rude music of the drum and the rattle, commingled 
with their own discordant yells. 

The Indians of Virginia were tall, erect, and well-proportioned, 
with prominent cheek-bones; eyes dark and brilliant, with an 
animal expression, and a sort of squint; their hair dark and 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 87 

straight. The chiefs were distinguished by a long pendant lock. 
The Indians had little or no beard, and the women served as 
barbers, eradicating the beard, and grating away the hair with 
two shells. Like all savages, they were fond of toys and tawdry 
ornaments. The principal garment was a mantle, in winter 
dressed with the fur in, in summer with it out; but the common 
sort had scarce anything to hide their nakedness, save grass or 
leaves, and in summer they all went nearly naked. The females 
always wore a cincture around the middle. Some covered them- 
selves with a mantle of curiously interwoven turkey feathers, 
pretty and comfortable. The greater part went barefoot ; some 
wore moccasins, a rude sandal of buckskin. Some of the women 
tattooed their skins with grotesque figures. They adorned the 
ear with pendants of copper, or a small living snake, yellow or 
green, or a dead rat, and the head with a bird's wing, a feather, 
the rattle of a rattlesnake, or the hand of an enemy. They 
stained the head and shoulder red with the juice of the puccoon. 
The red men dwelt for the most part on the banks of rivers. 
They spent the time in fishing, hunting, war, or indolence, de- 
spising domestic labor, and assigning it to the women. These 
made mats, baskets, pottery, hollowed out stone-mortars, pounded 
the corn in them, made bread, cooked, planted corn, gathered it, 
carried burdens, etc. Infants were inured to hardship and ex- 
posure. The Indians kindled a fire quickly "by chafing a dry 
pointed stick in a hole of a little square piece of wood, which, 
taking fire, sets fire to moss, leaves, or any such dry thing." 
They subsisted upon fish, game, the natural fruits of the earth, 
and corn, which they planted. The tuckahoe-root, during the 
summer, was an important article of diet in marshy places. 
Their cookery was not less rude than their other habits, yet pone 
and hominy have been borrowed from them, as also, it is said, 
the mode of barbecuing meat. Pone, according to the historian 
Beverley, is derived "not from the Latin panis, but from oppone," 
an Indian word ; according to Smith, ponap signifies meal-dump- 
lings. The natives did not refuse to eat grubs, snakes, and the 
insect locust. Their bread was sometimes made of wild oats, or 
the seed of the sunflowei*, but mostly of corn. Their salt was 
only such as could be procured from ashes. They were fond of 



88 niSTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

roasting ears of corn, and they welcomed the crop with the festi- 
val of the green-corn dance. From walnuts and hickory-nuts, 
pounded in a mortar, they expressed a liquid called pawcohic- 
cora. The hickory-tree is indigenous in America. Beverley 
has fallen into a curious mistake in saying that the peach-tree is 
a native of this country. Indian-corn and tobacco, although 
called indigenous, appear to have grown only when cultivated. 
They are never found of wild spontaneous growth. In their 
journeys the Indians were in the habit of providing themselves 
with rockahominy, or corn parched and reduced to a powder. 

They dwelt in towns, the cabins being constructed of saplings 
bent over at the top and tied together, and thatched with reeds, 
or covered with mats or bark, the smoke escaping through an 
aperture at the apex. The door, if any, consisted of a pendant 
mat. They sate on the ground, the better sort on matchcoats or 
mats. Their fortifications consisted of palisades ten or twelve 
feet high, sometimes encompassing an entire town, sometimes a 
part. Within these enclosures they preserved, with pious care, 
their idols and relics, and the remains of their chiefs. In hunt- 
ing and war they used the bow and arrow — the bow usually of 
locust, the arrow of reed, or a wand. The Indian notched his 
arrow with a beaver's tooth set in a stick, which he used in the 
place of a file. The arrow was winged with a turkey-feather, 
fastened with a sort of glue extracted from the velvet horns of 
the deer. The arrow was headed with an arrow-point of stone, 
often made of white quartz, and exquisitely formed, some barbed, 
some with a serrate edge. These are yet to be found in every 
part of the country. For knives the red men made use of sharp- 
ened reeds, or shells, or stone ; and for hatchets, tomahawks of 
stone, sharpened at one end or both. Those sharpened only at 
one end, at the other were either curved to a tapering point, or 
spheroidally rounded ofi , so as to serve the purpose of a hammer 
for breaking or pounding. In the middle a circular indenture 
was made, to secure the tomahawk to the handle. They soon, 
however, procured iron hatchets from the English. Trees the 
Indians felled by fire ; canoes were made by dint of burning and 
scraping with shells and tomahawks. Some of their canoes were 
not less than forty or fifty feet long. Canoe is a West Indian 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 89 

word, the Powhatan word is quintan, or aquintan.* The women 
manufactured a thread, or string of bark, or of a kind of grass 
called pemminaw, or of the sinews of the deer. A large pipe, 
adorned with the wings of a bird, or with beads, was the symbol 
of friendship, called the pipe of peace. A war-chief was styled 
werowance, and a war-council, matchacomoco. In war, like all 
savages, they relied mainly on surprise, treachery, and ambus- 
cade ; in the open field they were timid ; and their cruelty, as 
usual, was proportionate to their cowardice. 

The Virginia Indians were of course idolatrous, and their chief 
idol, called Okee, represented the spirit of evil, to appease whom 
they burnt sacrifices. They were greatly under the influence and 
control of their priests and conjurors, who wore a grotesque dress, 
performed a variety of divinations, conjurations, and enchant- 
ments, called powwowings, after the manner of wizards, and by 
their superior cunning and shrewdness, and some scanty know- 
ledge of medicine, contrived to render themselves objects of vene- 
ration, and to live upon the labor of others. The superstition of 
the savages was commensurate with their ignorance. Near the 
falls of the James River, about a mile back from the river, there 
were some impressions on a rock like the footsteps of a giant, 
being about five feet apart, which the Indians averred to be the 
footprints of their god. They submitted with Spartan fortitude 
to cruel tortures imposed by their idolatry, especially in the mys- 
terious and horrid ordeal of huskanawing. The avowed object of 
this ordeal was to obliterate forever from the memory of the 
youths subjected to it all recollection' of their previous lives. The 
house in which they kept the Okee was called Quioccasan, and was 
surrounded by posts, with human faces rudely carved and painted 
on them. Altars on which sacrifices were offered, were held in 
great veneration. 

The diseases of the Indians were not numerous; their reme- 
dies few and simple, their physic consisting mainly of the bark 
and roots of trees. Sweating was a favorite remedy, and every 
town was provided with a sweat-house. The patient, issuing from 



* Strachey's Virginia Britannica. 



90 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

the heated atmosphere, plunged himself in cold water, after the 
manner of the Russian bath. 

The Indians celebrated certain festivals by pastimes, games, 
and songs. The year they divided into five seasons, Cattapeak, 
the budding time of spring; Messinough, roasting ear time; Co- 
hattayough, summer ; Taquitock, the fall of the leaf; and Popanow, 
winter, sometimes called Cohonk, after the cry of the migratory 
wild-geese. Engaged from their childhood in fishing and hunting, 
they became expert and familiar with the haunts of game and 
fish. The luggage of hunting parties was carried by the women. 
Deer were taken by surrounding them, and kindling fires en- 
closing them in a circle, till they were killed ; sometimes they 
were driven into the water, and there captured. The Indian, 
hunting alone, would stalk behind the skin of a deer. Game 
being abundant in the mountain country, hunting parties repaired 
to the heads of the rivers at the proper season, and this probably 
engendered the continual hostilities that existed between the Pow- 
hatans of the tide- water region and the Monacans, on the upper 
waters of the James, and the Mannahoacks, at the head of the 
Rappahannock. The savages were in the habit of exercising 
themselves in sham -fights. Upon the first discharge of arrows 
they burst forth in horrid shrieks and the war-whoop, so that as 
many infernal hell-hounds could not have been more terrific. 
"All their actions, cries, and gestures, in charging and retreat- 
ing," says Captain Smith, "were so strained to the height of their 
quality and nature, that the strangeness thereof made it seem very 
delightful." For their music'they used a thick cane, on which they 
piped as on a recorder. They had also a rude sort of drum, and 
rattles of gourds or pumpkins. The chastity of their women was 
not held in much value, but wives were careful not to be suspected 
without the consent of their husbands. 

The Indians were hospitable, in their manners exhibiting that 
imperturbable equanimity and uniform self-possession and repose 
which distinguish the refined society of a high civilization. Ex- 
tremes meet. Yet the Indians were in everything wayward and 
inconstant, unless where restrained by fear; cunning, quick of 
apprehension, and ingenious; some were brave; most of them 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 91 

timorous and cautious ; all savage. Not ungrateful for benefits, 
they seldom forgave an injury. They rarely stole from each 
other, lest their conjurors should reveal the offence, and they 
should be punished.* 



* Smith, ii. 129, 187; Beverley, B. iii. ; Drake's Book of the Indians; Thatcher's 
Lives of the Indians ; Bancroft's History of U. S., vol. iii. cap. xxii. 



CHAPTER VII. 

1609-1614. 

Condition of the Colony at the time of Smith's Departure — Assaults of Indians 
— " The Starving Time " — The Sea-Venture — Situation of the English on the 
Island of Bermuda — They Embark for Virginia — Arrive at Jamestown — - 
Jamestown abandoned — Colonists meet Lord Delaware's Fleet — Return to 
Jamestown — Delaware's Discipline — The Church at Jamestown — Sir George 
Somers — Delaware returns to England — Percy, Governor — New Charter — 
Sir Thomas Dale, Governor — Martial Laws — Henrico Founded — Plantations 
and Hundreds settled — Argall makes Pocahontas a Prisoner — Dale's expedition 
up York River — Rolfe visits Powhatan — Dale returns to Jamestown — Rolfe 
marries Pocahontas — The Chickahominies enter into Treaty of Peace — Com- 
munity of Goods abolished — Argall's Expeditions against the French in Aca- 
dia — Captures Fort at New Amsterdam. 

Captain Smith, upon embarking for England, left at James- 
town three ships, seven boats, a sufficient stock of provision, four 
hundred and ninety odd settlers, twenty pieces of cannon, three 
hundred muskets, with other guns, pikes, swords, and ammuni- 
tion, and one hundred soldiers acquainted with the Indian lan- 
guage, and the nature of the country.* The settlers were, for 
the most part, poor gentlemen, serving-men, libertines ; and with 
such materials the wonder is, not that the settlement was re- 
tarded by many disasters, but that it was effected at all. Lord 
Bacon says: "It is a shameful and unblessed thing to take the 
scum of people, wicked, condemned men, with whom you plant; 
and not only so, but it spoileth the plantation, for they will ever 
live like rogues, and not fall to work, but be lazy and do mis- 
chief; spend victuals and be quickly weary."f Immediately upon 

* The colony was provided with fishing nets, working tools, apparel, six 
mares and a horse, five or six hundred swine, with some goats and sheep. 
Jamestown was strongly fortified with palisades, and contained fifty or sixty 
houses. There were, besides, five or six other forts and plantations. There was 
only one carpenter in the colony ; three others were learning that trade. There 
were two blacksmiths and two sailors. 

•j- Bacon's Essays, 123. 

(92) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 93 

Smith's departure the Indians renewed their attacks. Percy, the 
Earl of Northumberland's brother, for a time administered the 
government; but it soon fell into the hands of the seditious male- 
contents. Provisions growing scarce, West and Ratcliffe em- 
barked in small vessels to procure corn. Ratcliffe, inveigled by 
Powhatan, was slain with thirty of his companions, two only 
escaping, of whom one, a boy, Henry Spilman, a young gentle- 
man well descended, was rescued by Pocahontas, and he after- 
wards lived for many years among the Patawomekes, acquired 
their language, and often proved serviceable as an interpreter for 
his countrymen. He was slain by the savages, on the banks of 
the Potomac, in 1622. The loss of Captain Smith was soon felt 
by the colonists : they were now continually exposed to the arrow 
and the tomahawk ; the common store was consumed by the com- 
manders and the savages ; swords and guns were bartered with the 
Indians for food ; and within six months after Smith's departure 
the number of English in Virginia was reduced from five hundred 
to sixty men, women, and children. These found themselves in 
a starving condition, subsisting on roots, herbs, acorns, walnuts, 
berries, and fish. Starch became an article of diet, and even 
dogs, cats, rats, snakes, toadstools, and the skins of horses. 
The body of an Indian was disinterred and eaten ; nay, at last, 
the colonists preyed on the dead bodies of each other. It was 
even alleged that a husband murdered his wife for a cannibal re- 
past; upon his trial, however, it appeared that the cannibalism 
was feigned, to palliate the murder. He was put to death — 
being burned according to law. This was long afterwards re- 
membered as "the starving time." Sir Thomas Smith, treasurer 
of the Virginia Company, was bitterly denounced by the suffer- 
ers for neglecting to send out the necessary supplies. The hap- 
piest day that many of them expected ever to see, was when the 
Indians had killed a mare, the people wishing, while the carcass 
was boiling, "that Sir Thomas was upon her back in the kettle." 
It seemed to them as if the Earl of Salisbury's threat of aban- 
doning the colony to its fate, was now to be actually carried into 
effect; but it is to be recollected that a large portion of ample 
supplies, that had been sent out from England for the colony, had 
been lost by storm and shipwreck. 



94 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

It has before been mentioned, that toward the end of July, 
1609, in a violent tempest, the Sea-Venture, with Newport, 
Gates, and Somers, and one hundred and fifty souls, had been 
separated from the rest of the fleet. Racked by the fury of the 
sea, she sprang a leak, and the water soon rose in her hold above 
two tiers of hogsheads that stood over the ballast, and the crew 
had to stand up to their waists in the water, and bail out with 
buckets, baricos, and kettles. They continued bailing and pump- 
ing for three days and nights without intermission , yet the water 
appeared rather to gain upon them than decrease; so that all 
hands, being at length utterly exhausted, came to the desperate 
resolution to shut down the hatches and resign themselves to 
their fate; and some having "good and comfortable waters 
fetched them, and drank to one another as taking their last fare- 
well." During all this time the aged Sir George Somers, sitting 
upon the quarter-deck, scarce taking time to eat or sleep, bearing 
the helm so as to keep the ship as upright as possible, but for 
which she must have foundered, — at last descried land. At this 
time many of the unhappy crew were asleep, and when the voice 
of Sir George was heard announcing ''land," it seemed as if it 
was a voice from heaven, and they hurried up above the hatches 
to look for what they could scarcely credit. On finding the intel- 
ligence true, and that they were, indeed, in sight of land, — 
although it was a coast that all men usually tried to avoid, — yet 
they now spread all sail to reach it. Soon the ship struck upon 
a rock, till a surge of the sea dashed her off from thence, and 
so from one to another till, at length, fortunately, she lodged 
(July twenty-eighth) upright between two rocks, as if she was laid 
up in a natural dry-dock. Till this, at every lurch they had ex- 
pected instant death ; but now, all at once, the storm gave place 
to a calm, and the billows, which at each successive dash had 
threatened destruction, were stilled ; and, quickly taking to their 
boats, they reached the shore, distant upwards of a league, with- 
out the loss of a single man out of upwards of one hundred and 
fifty. Their joy at an escape so unexpected and almost miracu- 
lous, arose to the pitch of amazement. Yet their escape was not 
more wonderful in their eyes than their preservation after they 
had landed on the island; for the Spaniards had always looked 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 95 

upon it as more frightful than purgatory itself; and all seamen 
had reckoned it no better than an enchanted den of Furies and 
devils — the most dangerous, desolate, and forlorn place in the 
whole world; instead of which it turned out to be healthful, fer- 
tile, and charming. 

The Bermudas are a cluster of islands lying in the Atlantic 
Ocean, at the distance of six hundred miles from the American 
Continent, extending, in crescent form, from east to west; in 
length, twenty miles ; in breadth, two and a half. On the coast 
of the principal of these islands, Bermuda, the Sea-Venture was 
wrecked; and, on landing, the English found, instead of those 
gloomy horrors with which a superstitious fancy had invested it, 
a terrestrial paradise blessed with all the charms of exquisite 
scenery, luxuriant vegetation, and a voluptuous atmosphere, which 
have since been celebrated in the verse of a modern poet. Here 
they remained for nearly a year. Fish, fowl, turtle, and wild 
hogs supplied the English with abundant food; the palmetto leaf 
furnished a cover for their cabins. They had daily morning and 
evening prayers, and on Sunday divine service was performed 
and two sermons preached by the chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Bucke. 
He was a graduate of Oxford, and received the appointment of. 
chaplain to the Virginia expedition upon the recommendation 
of Dr. Ravis, Bishop of London. Mr. Bucke was the second 
minister sent out from England to Virginia, being successor to 
Rev. Robert Hunt. The company of the Sea- Venture were sum- 
moned to worship by the sound of the church-going bell, and 
the roll was called, and absentees were duly punished. The 
clergyman performed the ceremony of marriage once during the 
sojourn on the island, the parties being Sir George Somers' cook 
and a maid-servant, (of one Mrs. Mary Horton,) named Elizabeth 
Persons. The communion was once celebrated. The infant child 
of one John Rolfe — a daughter, born on the island — was chris- 
tened, February eleventh, by the name of Bermuda, Captain 
Newport, the Rev. Mr. Bucke, and Mrs. Horton being witnesses. 
It would seem from this, that John Rolfe was a widower when he 
afterwards married Pocahontas. Another infant, born on the 
island, a boy, was christened by the name of Bermudas. Six of 
the company, including the wife of Sir Thomas Gates, died there. 



96 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Living in the midst of peace and plenty in this sequestered and 
delightful place of abode, after escaping from the yawning perils 
of the deep, many of the English lost all desire ever to leave the 
island, and some were even mutinously determined to remain 
there. Gates, however, having decked the long-boat of the Sea- 
Venture with the hatches, dispatched the mate, Master Raven, 
an expert mariner, with eight men, to Virginia for succor; but 
the boat was never more heard of. Discord and insubordination 
found a place among the exiles of the Bermudas; and even the 
leaders, Gates and Somers, lived for awhile asunder. At length, 
while Somers was engaged in surveying the islands, Gates com- 
pleted a vessel of about eighty tons, constructed somewhat after 
the manner of Robinson Crusoe, partly from the timber of the 
Sea-Venture, and the rest of cedar. A small bark was also built 
under the direction of Sir George Somers, of cedar, without the 
use of any iron, save a bolt in her keel. These two vessels were 
named, the one the "Patience," the other the "Deliverance." 
Finally, on the 10th day of May, 1610, after the lapse of nine 
months spent on the island, and nearly a year since their de- 
parture from England, harmony being restored, and the leaders 
■reconciled, they embarked in these cedar vessels for Virginia. 

The name of Sir Thomas West, afterwards Lord la Ware, or 
De la War, or Delaware, appears in the commission appointed in 
the year of James the First, for inquiring into the case of all such 
persons as should be found openly opposing the doctrines of the 
Church of England. Such was the spirit of that age, by which 
standard the men of that age ought to be judged. Lord Dela- 
ware was, nevertheless, distinguished for his virtues and his gene- 
rous devotion to the welfare of the infant colony of Virginia — a 
man of approved courage, temper, and experience. The Rev. 
William Crashaw, father of the poet of that name, at the period 
of Lord Delaware's appointment to the place of Governor of Vir- 
ginia, was preacher at the Temple; and he delivered a sermon 
before his lordship, and others of his majesty's council for the 
Colony of Virginia, and the rest of the adventurers or stock- 
holders in that plantation, upon occasion of his-lord.ship's embark- 
ation for Virginia, on the 21st day of February, 1609-10. The 
text was from Daniel, xii. 3 : " They that turn many to righteous- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 97 

ness shall shine as the stars forever and ever." This sermon was 
printed by William Welby, and sold in Paul's Churchyard, at 
the sign of the Swan, 1610, and is the first missionary sermon 
preached in England to any of her sons embarking for Virginia. 
Crashaw, in this discourse, urges it warmly upon his countrymen 
to aid the enterprise of planting the colony; rejects, with indig- 
nant scorn, the more sordid motives of mere lucre, and appeals 
to loftier principles, and the more elevated motives of Christian 
beneficence. But although he rejects motives of mere profit, he 
tells his auditors that if they will pursue their object, animated 
by these enlarged views, they will probably find the plantation 
eventually a source of pecuniary profit, the soil being good, the 
commodities numerous and necessary for England, the distance 
not great, and the voyage easy, so that God's blessing was alone 
wanting to make it gainful. In his peroration, the preacher, 
apostrophizing Lord Delaware, excites his generous emulation 
by a personal appeal, reminding him of the gallant exploit of 
his ancestor, Sir Roger la Warr, who, assisted by John de Pelham, 
captured the King of France at the battle of Poictiers. In me- 
mory of which exploit, Sir Roger la Warr — Lord la Warr accord- 
ing to Froissart — had the crampet or chape of his sword for a 
badge of that honor. Crashaw bitterly denounces the Papists, 
and the Brownists, and factious separatists, and exhorts the Vir- 
ginia Company not to suffer such to have any place in the new 
colony. Rome and Geneva were the Scylla and Charybdis of the 
Church of England.* Lord Delaware sailed in February for 
Virginia. 

Gates and Somers, after leaving the Bermudas in May, in 
fourteen days reached Jamestown, where they found only sixty 
miserable colonists surviving. Sir Thomas Gates, Lieutenant- 
Governor, landing on the twenty-fourth of May, caused the 
church-bell to be rung; and such as were able repaired thither, 
and the Rev. Mr. Bucke delivered an earnest and sorrowful prayer 
upon their finding so unexpectedly all things so full of misery and 
misgovernment. At the conclusion of the religious service the 
new commission of Gates was read; Percy, the acting president, 

* Anderson's Hist, of Col. Church, i. 232. 

7 



98 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

scarcely able to stand, surrendered up the former charter and his 
commission. The palisades of the fort were found torn down; 
the ports open; the gates distorted from the hinges; the houses 
of those who had died, broken up and burned for firewood, and 
their store of provision exhausted. Gates reluctantly resolved to 
abandon the plantation, and to return to England by way of 
Newfoundland, where he expected to receive succor from English 
fishing vessels. June seventh, they buried their ordnance and 
armor at the gate of the fort, and, at the beat of drum, embarked 
in four pinnaces. Some of the people were, with difficulty, re- 
strained from setting fire to the town; but Sir Thomas Gates, 
with a select party, remained on shore until the others had em- 
barked, and he was the last man that stepped into the boat. 
They fired a farewell volley ; but not a tear was shed at their de- 
parture from a spot associated with so much misery. How often 
is the hour of despair but the deeper darkness that immediately 
precedes the dawn ! At noon they reached Hog Island, and on 
the next morning, while anchored off Mulberry Island, they were 
met by a long-boat with dispatches from Lord Delaware, who had 
arrived with three vessels, after a voyage of three months and a 
half from England.* Upon this intelligence Gates, with his 
company, returned up the river to, Jamestown on the same day. 
Lord Delaware arrived there with his three vessels on the ninth, 
and on the morning of the following day (Sunday) he landed at the 
south gate of the fort, and although the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir 
Thomas Gates, with his company, were drawn up to meet him, he 
fell on his knees, and remained for some time in silent prayer. 
After this he repaired to the church, and heard a sermon de- 
livered by the Rev. Mr. Bucke. A council was then called, and 
the governor delivered an address to the colonists. The hand of 
a superintending and benignant Providence was plainly manifested 
in all these circumstances. The arrival of Sir Thomas Gates 
rescued the colony from the jaws of famine; his prudence pre- 
served the fort at Jamestown, which the unhappy colonists, upon 
abandoning the place, wished to destroy, so as to cut off all pos- 
sibility of a return; had their return been longer delayed, the 

* Anderson's Hist, of Col. Church, i. 2G3. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 99 

savages might have destroyed the fort; had they set sail sooner, 
they would probably have missed Lord Delaware's fleet, as they 
had intended to sail by way of Newfoundland, in a direction 
contrary to that by which Lord Delaware approached.* 

* The wreck of the Sea-Venture appears to have suggested to Shakespeare the 
groundwork for the plot of " The Tempest," several incidents and passages being 
evidently taken from the contemporary accounts of that disaster, as narrated by 
Jordan and the Council of the Virginia Company. 

" Boatswain, down with the top-mast, yare 
Lower, lower ; bring her to try with the main course." 

Captain Smith, in his Sea-Grammar, published 1627, under the article how to 
handle a ship in a storm, says: "Let us lie as try with our main course — that is, 
to haul the tack aboard, the sheet close aft, the boling set up, and the helm tied 
close aboard." Again, the boatswain says: "Lay her a-hold, a-hold; set her 
two courses." The two courses are the mainsail and the foresail; and to lay a 
ship a-hold is to bring her to lie as near the wind as she can. These, and other 
nautical orders, are such as the brave old Somers probably gave when trying to 
keep the ship as upright as possible. 

"We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards." 

This was suggested to the poet by the recorded incident of part of the crew 
of the Sea-Venture having undertaken to drown their despair in drunkenness. 

" Farewell, my wife and children ! 
Farewell, brother! 
Ant. Let's all sink with the king. 
Seb. Let's take leave of him." 

These answer to the leave-taking of the Sea-Venture's crew. Jordan, in his 
narrative, says: "It is reported that this land of Bermudas, with the islands 
about it, are enchanted and kept by evil and wicked spirits," etc. Shakespeare 
accordingly employs Prospero, Ariel, and Caliban to personate this fabled en- 
chantment of the island. Ariel's task is, at Prospero's bidding — 

"To fly, 
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride 
On the curled clouds." 

The tempest, in which the ship was wrecked, is thus described by Ariel : — 

" I boarded the king's ship ; now on the beak, 
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin, 
I flamed amazement: sometimes I'd divide, 
And burn in many places ; on the top-mast, 
The yards, and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly, 
Then meet and join; Jove's lightnings, the precursors 



100 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Lord Delaware, Governor and Captain-General, was accompa- 
nied by Sir Ferdinand Waynman, Master of the Horse, who died 
shortly afterwards; Captain Holcroft; Captain Lawson; and 

O'the dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary 
And sight-outrunning were not; the fire, and cracks 
Of sulphurous roaring, the most mighty Neptune 
Seemed to besiege, and make his bold waves tremble." 

Again : — 

"Not a soul 
But felt a fever of the mad and played 
Some tricks of desperation." 

The almost miraculous escape of all from the very jaws of impending death, 
is thus alluded to by Ariel in her report to Prospero : — 

" Not a hair perished ; 
On their sustaining garments not a blemish, 
But fresher than before : and as thou bad'st me, 
In troops I have dispersed them 'bout the isle." 

The particular circumstances of the wreck are given quite exactly in the fami- 
liar verses : — 

" Safely in harbor 
Is the king's ship; in the deep nook, where once 
Thou call'st me up at midnight to fetch dew 
From the still-vexed Bermoothes-, there she's hid." 

Bermoothes, the Spanish pronunciation of Bermudas, or Bermudez, the original 
name of the island, taken, as is said, from that of a Spanish captain wrecked 
there. Another real incident is referred to in the following verses, the time only 
being transposed: — 

" The mariners all under hatches stowed; 
Whom, with a charm joined to their suffered labor, 
I have left asleep." 

The return of the other seven vessels of the fleet is described with a change, 
however, of the sea in which they sailed, and in their place of destination: — 

"And for the rest of the fleet, 
Which I dispersed, they all have met again; 
And are upon the Mediterranean flote, 
Bound sadly home for Naples ; 
Supposing that they saw the king's ship wrecked 
And his great person perish." 

For nearly a year after the Sea-Venture's separation from the fleet, it was be- 
lieved, in Virginia and in England, that she and her company were lost. Smith 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 101 

other gentlemen. Lord Delaware was the first executive officer 
of Virginia with the title of Governor; and the titles of Go- 
vernor and Captain-General were ever after given to the colo- 
nial chief magistrates of Virginia. Under Lord Delaware's dis- 
creet and energetic management, discipline and industry were 
speedily restored, the hours of labor being set from six o'clock in 
the morning to ten, and from two to four in the afternoon. The 
store of provisions that he had brought over with him was suffi- 
cient to supply four hundred men for twelve months. He gave 
orders for repairing the church. Its length was sixty feet, and 
its breadth twenty-four, and it was to have a chancel of cedar 
and a communion-table of black-walnut, and the pews of cedar, 
with handsome wide windows, to shut and open according to the 
weather, made of the same wood ; as also a pulpit with a font 
hewed out hollow like a canoe, with two bells at the west end. 
The building was so constructed as to be very light within ; and 
the Lord Governor and Captain-General caused it to be kept 
passing sweet, and trimmed up with divers flowers. There was 
also a sexton belonging to it. Every Sunday there were two 
sermons delivered, and every Thursday one — there being two 
preachers who took their weekly turns. In the morning of every 
day, at the ringing of the bell at ten o'clock, the people attended 
prayers ; and also again at four in the afternoon, before supper. 



and Pocahontas may have suggested some materials for the characters of Ferdi- 
nand and Miranda. 

Shakespeare, after abandoning the stage, in 1607 or 1G08, about the time of 
the first landing at Jamestown, remained in London for some four or five years. 
Smith, and the early colonists of Virginia, had many of them probably wit- 
nessed the theatrical performances at the Globe or Black Fryars ; Beggars' Bush, 
now Jordan's Point, an early plantation on the James River, derived its name 
from a comedy of Fletcher's. Shakespeare was, no doubt, quite familiar with the 
more remarkable incidents of the first settlement of the colony: the early voy- 
ages; the first discovery ; the landing; Smith's rencontres with the Indians; his 
rescue by Pocahontas ; the starving time, etc. Smith, indeed, as has been be- 
fore mentioned, complained of his exploits and adventures having been misre- 
presented on the stage, in London. That Shakespeare makes few or no allusions 
to these incidents, is because they occurred after nearly all his plays had been 
composed. "The Tempest," however, was written several years after the land- 
ing at Jamestown, being one of his latest productions — a creation of his maturest 
inteLlect. 



102 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

On Sunday, when the Governor went to church, he was accompa- 
nied by the councillors, officers, and all the gentlemen, with a 
guard of halberdiers in his lordship's livery, handsome red 
cloaks, to the number of fifty on each side, and behind him. In 
the church his lordship had his seat in the choir, in a green velvet 
chair, with a cloth, and also a velvet cushion laid on the table 
before him on which he knelt. The council and officers sate on 
each side of him, and when he returned to his house he was 
escorted back in the same manner. The newly appointed council 
consisted of Sir Thomas Gates, whose title was changed from that 
of Lieutenant-Governor to that of Lieutenant-Gcneral ; Sir 
George Somers, Admiral ; Captain George Percy ; Sir Ferdi- 
nando "Wayman, Master of the Ordnance ; Captain Newport, 
Vice- Admiral ; and Mr. Strachey, Secretary and Recorder. 
Strachey, who appears to have been a scholar, published an inte- 
resting account of the colony at this period. Some of the houses 
at Jamestown were covered with boards ; some with Indian mats. 
They were comfortable, and securely protected from the savages 
by the forts. Lord Delaware was a generous friend of the colony ; 
but it was as yet quite too poor and too much in its infancy to 
maintain the state suitable to him and his splendid retinue. The 
fashions of a court were preposterous in a wilderness. On the 
ninth of June, Sir George Somers was dispatched, in compliance 
with his own suggestion, in his cedar vessel to the Bermudas, 
accompanied by Argall in another vessel, to procure further sup- 
plies for the colony. Captain Argall, in consequence of adverse 
winds and heavy fogs, returned to Jamestown. Sir George 
Somers, after much difficulty, reached his destination, where he 
shortly after died, at a spot on which the town of St. George 
commemorates his name. The islands themselves received the 
designation of his surname, and were afterwards called the Sum- 
mer Islands. It is said that the Bermudas were at first named in 
England " Virginiola," but shortly after the " Summer Islands," 
partly in allusion to their temperature, and partly in honor of Sir 
George.* It was remarked of him that he was " a lamb upon 
land ; a lion at sea." As his life had been divided between the 



* Court and Times of James the First, 160. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 103 

Old World and the New, so after his death his remains were buried, 
part at Bermuda, part at Whitchurch, Dorsetshire, in England. 

Lord Delaware dispatched Captain Argall to the Potomac for 
corn, which he succeeded in procuring by the aid of the youthful 
prisoner, Henry Spilman. His lordship erected two forts, called 
Henry and Charles, after the king's sons. These forts were built 
on a level tract bordering Southampton River, and it was intended 
that settlers arriving from England should first land there, to 
refresh themselves after the confinement of the voyage. Sir 
Thomas Gates, who had before sent his daughters back to Eng- 
land, now returned there himself, in order to render to the council 
an account of all that had happened. Captain Percy was dis- 
patched with a party to chastise the Paspaheghs, for some depre- 
dations; they fled before the English, who burnt their cabins, 
captured their queen and her children, and shortly after bar- 
barously slew them. Lord Delaware, visiting the falls with a 
party of soldiers, was attacked by the Indians, who killed some 
of his men. 

His lordship having suffered much sickness, and finding himself 
in a state of extreme debility, embarked,* in company of Dr. 
Bohun and Captain Argall, and about fifty others, for the Island 
of Mevis, in the West Indies. Contrary winds drove them to the 
north, and having put in at the mouth of a large river, then called 
Chickohocki, it hence derived its name of the Delaware. 

Lord Delaware upon leaving the colony, committed the charge 
of it to Captain George Percy, an honorable and resolute gentle- 
man, but in infirm health, and deficient in energy. The number 
of colonists was at this period about two hundred; the stock of 
provisions sufficient for ten months, and the Indians peaceable 
and friendly. Before Lord Delaware reached England, the Vir- 
ginia Council, discouraged by so many disasters and disappoint- 
ments, were at a loss to decide whether they should use any 
further efforts to sustain the ill-fated colony, or should abandon 
the enterprise, and recall the settlers from Virginia. But Sir 
Thomas Gates made so strenuous an appeal in favor of sustaining 
the plantation, that Sir Thomas Dale was dispatched with three 

* March 28th, 1611. 



104 HISTORY OP THE COLONY AND 

vessels, cattle, hogs, and other supplies. The title given to Dale 
was that of High Marshal of Virginia, indicative of the martial 
authority with which he was invested. He was a military man, 
and had served in the Low Countries, and he brought over with 
him an extraordinary code of "laws divine, moral, and martial," 
compiled by William Strachey, secretary of the colony, for Sir 
Thomas Smith, from the military laws observed during the wars 
in the Low Countries. This code was sent over by Sir Thomas 
Smith, treasurer or governor of the Virginia Company, without 
the company's sanction, as it has been alleged; but since the com- 
pany in no way interposed its authority in contravention to the 
new code, their sanction of it may be presumed. Several of these 
laws were barbarous, inhuman, written in blood. 

Arriving in Virginia in the month of May, 1611, Dale touched 
at Kiquotan, and set all hands there to planting corn. Reaching 
Jamestown on the tenth of May, he found the settlers busily en- 
gaged in their usual occupation, playing at bowls in the streets. 
He set them to work felling trees, repairing houses, and providing 
materials for enclosing the new town, which he proposed to build. 
To find a site for it he surveyed the Nansemoncl River and the 
James as far as the falls, and finally pitched upon a high ground, 
with steep banks, on the north side of the river, near Arrohat- 
tock, and about twelve miles below the falls of the river. The 
site was on a peninsula, known as Farrar's Island, in Varina 
Neck. Sir Thomas was prevented for a time from founding the 
new tow T n by the disturbances that prevailed in the colony, and 
to restore order he enforced martial law with rigor. Eight of the 
colonists appear to have been convicted of treasonable plots and 
conspiracies, and executed by cruel and unusual modes, before 
midsummer. Among these was Jeffrey Abbot, who had served 
long in the army in Ireland and in the Netherlands; had been a 
sergeant of Captam John Smith's company in Virginia, who avers 
that he never knew there a better soldier or more loyal friend of 
the colony. It must be acknowledged that rigorous measures 
were necessary, and it was fortunate for the colony that the cruel 
and despotic code of laws, to which it was now subjected, was ad- 
ministered by so discreet and upright a governor as Dale. 

Early in August, 1611, Sir Thomas Gates, commissioned to 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 105 

take charge of the government of the colony, came over with six 
vessels, three hundred men, and abundant supplies. He was ac- 
companied by the Rev. Mr. Glover, an approved preacher in Bed- 
ford and Huntingdonshire, a graduate of Cambridge, in easy 
circumstances, and somewhat advanced in years. Arriving at 
Jamestown early in August, during the sickly season, he soon 
after died. 

Dale, relieved from the cares of the chief post, cheerfully occu- 
pied a subordinate position, and now turned his attention to the 
establishment of new settlements on the banks of the James, at 
some distance above Jamestown. Furnished by Gates with three 
hundred and fifty men, he sailed up the river early in September, 
and on the spot selected before, he founded the town of Henrico, 
so called in honor of the heir-apparent, Prince Henry, eldest son 
of James the First. The peninsula on which it was built is 
formed by a remarkable bend, styled the "Dutch Gap," where 
the river, after sweeping a circuit of seven miles, returns within 
one hundred and twenty yards from the point of departure. The 
site commands an extensive and picturesque view of the winding 
river, which in this part of it is called the "Corkscrew." The 
fertile tract of land there produced tobacco nearly resembling the 
Spanish Varinas, and hence received the appellation of Varina, 
the name of a well-known plantation. This was afterwards the 
residence of the Rev. William Stith, the best of our early his- 
torians, who dates the preface of his History of Virginia there, 
in 1746. 

The peninsula, surrounded on three sides by the river, was im- 
paled across the isthmus from water to water. There were three 
streets of well-framed houses, a handsome church of wood com- 
pleted, and the foundation laid of a better one to be built of brick, 
besides store-houses, watch-houses, etc. Upon the river edge 
there were five houses, in which lived "the honester sort of people," 
as farmers in England, and they kept continual watch for the 
town's security. About two miles back from the town was a 
second palisade, near two miles in length, from river to river, 
guarded by several commanders, with a good quantity of corn- 
ground impaled, and sufficiently secured. 

The breastwork thrown up by Sir Thomas Dale is still to be 



106 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

traced, and vestiges of the town are indicated by scattered bricks, 
showing the positions of the houses.* Burkf and KeithJ have 
fallen into singular mistakes as to the situation of this town. 

On the south side of the river a plantation was established, 
called Hope in Faith and Coxendale, with forts, named, re- 
spectively, Charity, Elizabeth, Patience, and Mount Malady, and 
a guest-house for sick people, on the spot where afterwards, in 
Stith's time, Jefferson's church stood. On the same side of the 
river the Rev. Alexander Whitaker, sometimes styled the 
"Apostle of Virginia," established his parsonage, a well-framed 
house and one hundred acres of land, called Rock Hall.§ 

The work of William Strachey, already referred to, entitled 
"The History of Travel into Virginia Britannia," etc., appears 
to have been written before 1616, and two manuscripts of it exist, 
one in the British Museum, the other in the Ashmolean manu- 
scripts at Oxford. 1 1 

Sir Thomas Dale, when he came over to Virginia, was accom- 
panied by Rev. Alexander Whitaker, the son of Dr. William 
Whitaker, Master of St. John's College, Cambridge, and also 
Regius Professor of Divinity there. The doctor distinguished 
himself by his controversial writings against the Church of Rome, 
and took a leading part in framing and maintaining the Lambeth 
Articles, which were Calvinistic, and had they been established, 
might have gone far toward healing the divisions between the 
Church of England and the Presbyterians. Rev. Alexander 

* Va. Hist. Reg., i. 161. f Hist, of Va., i. 166. % Hist - of Va - I 24 - 
\ Stith, 124; Keith, 124; Beverley, i. 25; South. Lit. Messr. for June, 1845 ; 
Hawks' Narrative, 29. 

|| It has been of late years printed for the first time by the Hakluyt Society 
in England. The work is illustrated by etchings, comprising fac-similes of sig- 
natures, Captain Smith's map, and several engravings from De Bry. It contains 
also a copious glossary of Indian words. The first book comprises the geography 
of the country, with a full and admirable account of the manners and customs 
of Powhatan and his people. It is an important authority, but as it was printed 
only for the use of the members of the Hakluyt Society, it is but little known in 
this country. The second book treats of Columbus, Vespucius, Cabot, Raleigh, 
and Drake, with notices of the early efforts to colonize Northern Virginia, or 
New England. The period to which Strachey's History of Virginia relates in- 
cludes 1610, 1611, and 1G12. The same author published a map of Virginia at 
Oxford, in 1612. Mr. Peter Force has a MS. copy of it. 



ANCIENT DOxMINION OF VIRGINIA. 107 

Whitaker, when he reached Virginia, had been a graduate of Cam- 
bridge some five or six years, and had been seated in the North 
of England; where he was held in great esteem. He had pro- 
perty of his own and excellent prospects of promotion; but, ani- 
mated by a missionary spirit, he came over to Virginia. The 
voyage is described as speedy and safe, "being scarce eight weeks 
long." 

The Appomattox Indians having committed some depredations, 
Sir Thomas Dale, about Christmas, 1611, captured their town, \ 
near the mouth of the Appomattox River where it empties into 
the James. The town was five miles distant from Henrico. Sir 
Thomas, pleased with the situation, established a plantation there, 
and called it Bermudas, the third town erected in Virginia, now 
known as Bermuda Hundred, the port of Richmond for ships of 
heavy burden. He laid out several plantations there, the Upper 
and Lower Rochdale, West Shirley, and Digges' Hundred. In 
conformity with the code of martial law each hundred was sub- 
jected to the control of a captain. The Nether Hundred was en- 
closed with a palisade two miles long, running from river to river, 
and here, within a half mile of each other, were many neat houses 
already built. Rochdale, or Rock's Dale, enclosed by a palisade 
four miles in length, was dotted with houses along the enclosure ; 
here the hogs and cattle enjoyed a range of twenty miles to graze 
in securely. About fifty miles below these settlements stood 
Jamestown, on a fertile peninsula, with two rows of framed houses, 
some of them with two stores and a garret, and three large store- 
houses. The town was well enclosed, and it and the neighboring 
region were well peopled. v Forty miles below Jamestown, at 
Kiquotan, the settlers enjoyed an abundance of fish, fowl, and 
venison.* 

Captain Argall now arriving from England, in a vessel with 
forty men, was sent to the Potomac to trade for corn, and he 
contrived to ingratiate himself with Japazaws, a friendly chief, 
and from him learned that Pocahontas was there. She had never 
visited Jamestown since Smith's departure, and on the remote 
banks of the Potomac she thought herself unknown. Japazaws, 

* Smith, ii. 13. 



108 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

easily bribed, betrayed the artless and unsuspecting girl into 
Argall's hands. When she discovered the treachery she burst 
into tears. Argall, having sent a messenger to inform Powhatan 
that his favorite daughter was a prisoner, and must be ransomed 
with the men and arms, conveyed her to Jamestown. Three 
months thereafter Powhatan restored seven English prisoners and 
some unserviceable muskets, and sent word that if his daughter 
was released he would make restitution for all injuries, and give 
the English five hundred bushels of corn, and forever remain in 
peace and amity.* They refused to surrender Poco.hontas until 
full satisfaction was rendered. 

Powhatan was deeply offended, and nothing more was heard 
from him for a long time. At length Governor Dale, with 
Argall's vessel and some others, manned with one hundred and 
fifty men, went up the York River, taking the young captive with 
him, to Werowocomoco. Here, meeting with a scornful defiance, 
the English landed, burnt the cabins, and destroyed everything. 
On the next day Dale, proceeding up the river, concluded a truce 
with the savages. He then sailed up to Matchot, another resi- 
dence of Powhatan, on the south side of the Pamunkey, where it 
unites with the Matapony. Matchot is supposed to be identical 
with Eltham, the old seat of the Bassets, in the County of New 
Kent, and which borrows its name from an English seat in the 
County of Kent. At this place, where several hundred warriors 
were found, the English landed, and the savages demanded a 
truce till PoAvhatan could be heard from, which being granted, 
two of Powhatan's sons went on board the vessel to see their 
sister Pocahontas. Finding her well, contrary to what they had 
heard, they were delighted, and promised to persuade their father 
to make peace, and forever be friends with the English. 

John Rolfe, and another of the Englishmen named Sparks, 
were dispatched to let Powhatan know these proceedings. He 
entertained them hospitably, but would not admit them into his 
presence; they, however, saw his brother Opechancanough, who 
engaged to use his influence with Powhatan in favor of peace. 
It now being April, the season for planting corn, Sir Thomas 



* Court and Times of James the First, i. 2G2. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 109 

Dale returned to Jamestown, intending not to renew hostilities 
until the next crop was made. 

March 12th, 1612, another charter was granted to the Vir- 
ginia Company, extending the boundaries of the colony, so as to 
include all islands lying within three hundred leagues of the con- 
tinent. The object of this extension was to embrace the Bermu- 
das, or Summer Islands; but the Virginia Company shortly 
afterwards sold them to one hundred and twenty of its own mem- 
bers, who became incorporated into a distinct company. * 

On the 4th of November, 1612, died Henry, Prince of Wales, 
a gallant and generous spirit, the friend of Raleigh, and the idol 
of the nation ; and his premature death was deplored like that 
of the Black Prince before, and the Princess Charlotte in more 
modern times. He appears to have been a warm friend of the 
infant plantation of Virginia, and Sir Thomas Dale speaks of 
him "as his glorious master, who would have enamelled with his 
favors the labors which were undertaken for God's cause," and 
laments that the "whole frame of the enterprise seemed fallen 
into his grave." 

Mr. John Rolfe, a worthy gentleman, who appears to have 
been a widower, had been for some time in love with Pocahontas, 
and she with him; and, agitated by the conflicting emotions of this 
singular and romantic attachment, in a letter he requested the 
advice of Sir Thomas Dale, who readily gave his assent to the 
proposed union. Pocahontas likewise communicated the affair to 
her brother; so that the report of the marriage soon reached 
Powhatan, and it proved likewise acceptable to him. Accord- 
ingly, within ten days he sent Opachisco, an aged uncle of Poca- 
hontas, and her two brothers, to attend the wedding, and fill his 
place at the ceremony. The marriage took place early in April, 
1613, at Jamestown, and the rites were no doubt performed by 
the Rev. Mr. Whitaker.f 



* Hen. Stat., i. 98; Stith, 120, and Appendix No. 3. 

f A letter was written by Dale on the occasion, dated in June, 1014, and ad- 
dressed to a friend in London; another of Rolfe to Dale, before mentioned, was 
published in London, 1015, by Ralph Hamor, in his work entitled, "A True 
Discourse of the Present State of Virginia," etc.; Rev. Alexander Whitaker ad- 
dressed a letter on the same subject to a cousin in London. These letters were 



110 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

This remarkable union became a happy link of peace and har- 
mony betAveen the red man and the white ; and the warlike Chicka- 
hominies now came to propose a treaty of peace.* This fierce 
and numerous tribe, dwelling on the borders of the Chickahominy 
River, and near neighbors to the English, had long maintained 
their independence, and refused to acknowledge the sceptre of 
Powhatan. They now sent two runners to Governor Dale with 
presents, apologizing for all former injuries, and offering to sub- 
mit themselves to King James, and to relinquish the name of 
Chickahominies, and be called Tassautessus (English.) They de- 
sired, nevertheless, still to be governed by their own laws, under 
the authority of eight of their own chiefs. Governor Dale, with 
Captain Argall and fifty men, on the banks of the Chickahominy, 
concluded a treaty of peace with them, and they ratified it by 
acclamation. An aged warrior then arose and explained the 
treaty, addressing himself successively to the old men, the young, 
and the women and children. The Chickahominies, apprehensive 
of being reduced under the despotism of Powhatan, sheltered 
themselves under the protection of the whites — a striking proof 
of the atrocious barbarity of a race whose imaginary virtues have 
been so often celebrated by poet's, orators, and historians, and 
who have been described as renewing the golden age of innocent 
felicity. 

i The system of working in common, and of being provided for 
put of the public store, although unavoidable at first, had hitherto 
tended to paralyze industry, and to retard the growth of the 
colony. An important alteration in this particular was now 
effected; Sir Thomas Dale allotted to each man three acres of 
cleared ground, from which he was only obliged to contribute to 
the public store two and a half barrels of corn. These regula- 
tions, raising the colonists above the condition of absolute de- 
pendence, and creating a new incentive to exertion, proved very 
acceptable and beneficial. f 



republished in this country in 1842, in a pamphlet explanatory of Chapman's 
picture of the Baptism of Pocahontas. 

* Stith, 131. 

f Chalmers, Introduction, i. 10; Grahame's Colonial Hist. U.S., i. 64. Com- 
pare Belknap's Amer. Biog., ii. 151. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. Ill 

Early in the year 1614 Sir Thomas Gates returned again to 
England, and Sir Thomas Dale reassumed the government of the 
colony. The French settlers of Acadia had, as early as 1605, 
built the town of Port Royal, on the Bay of Fundy; St. Croix 
was afterwards erected on the other side of the bay. Dale, look- 
ing upon these settlements as an encroachment upon the territory 
of Virginia, which extended to the forty-fifth degree of latitude, 
dispatched his kinsman, Argall, an enterprising and unscrupulous 
man, with a small force, to dislodge the intruders. The French 
colony was found situated on Mount Desert Island, near the 
Penobscot River, and within the bounds of the present State of 
Maine. The French, surprised while dispersed in the woods, 
soon yielded to superior force, and Argall, as some accounts say, 
furnished the prisoners with a fishing vessel, in which they re- 
turned to France, except fifteen, including a Jesuit missionary, 
who were brought to Jamestown. According to other accounts, 
their vessels were captured, but the colonists escaped, and went 
to live among the Indians. On his return, Argall visited the 
Dutch settlement near the site of Albany, on the Hudson, and 
compelled the governor there to surrender the place ; but it was 
reclaimed by the Dutch not long afterwards, and during the 
next year they erected a fort on Manhattan Island, on which is 
now seated the commercial metropolis of the United States. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

1614-1617'. 

Hamor visits Powhatan — Richard Hakluyt — Pocahontas Baptized — Fixed Pro- 
perty in the Soil established — Dale Embarks for England accompanied by 
Pocahontas — Yeardley, Deputy Governor — Culture of Tobacco introduced — 
Pocahontas in England — Tomocomo — Death of Pocahontas — John and Thomas 
Rolfe — Smith and Pocahontas. 

Ralph Hamor* having obtained permission from Sir Thomas 
Dale to visit Powhatan, and taking with him Thomas Savage, as 
interpreter, and two Indian guides, started from Bermuda (Hun- 
dred) in the morning, and reached Matchot (Eltham) on the 
evening of the next day. Powhatan recognizing the boy Thomas 
Savage, said to him: "My child, I gave you leave, being my boy, 
to go see your friends ; and these four years I have not seen you 
nor heard of my own man, Namontack, I sent to England, though 
many ships have been returned from thence." Turning then to 
Hamor, he demanded the chain of beads which he had sent to Sir 
Thomas Dale at his first arrival, with the understanding that 
whenever he should send a messenger, he should wear that chain 
about his neck ; otherwise he was to be bound, and sent home. 
Sir Thomas had made such an arrangement, and on this occasion 
had directed his page to give the necklace to Hamor; but the 
page had forgotten it. However, Hamor being accompanied by 
two of Powhatan's own people, he was satisfied, and conducted 
him to the royal cabin, where a guard of two hundred bowmen 
stood always in attendance. He offered his guest a pipe of to- 
bacco, and then inquired after his brother, Sir Thomas Dale, and 
his daughter, Pocahontas, and his unknown son-in-law, Rolfe, and 
"how they lived and loved." Being answered that Pocahontas 
was so well satisfied, that she would never live with him again, he 



* Smith, ii. 19. There appears to be a mistake in affixing William Parker's 
name to the account of this visit, for it was evidently written by Hamor. 

(112) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 113 

laughed, and demanded the object of his visit. Hamor gave him 
to understand that his message was private, to be made known 
only to him and to Papaschicher, one of the guides who was in 
the secret. Forthwith Powhatan ordered out all his people, ex- 
cept his two queens " that always sit by him," and bade Hamor 
deliver his message. He then, by his interpreter, let him know 
that Sir Thomas Dale had sent him pieces of copper, strings of 
white and blue beads, wooden combs, fish-hooks, and a pair of 
knives, and would give him a grindstone, when he would send for 
it; that his brother Dale, hearing of the charms of his younger 
daughter, desired that he would send her to Jamestown, as well 
because he intended to marry her, as on account of the desire of 
Pocahontas to see her, and he believed that there could be no bet- 
ter bond of peace and friendship than such a union. While 
Hamor was speaking, Powhatan repeatedly interrupted him, and 
when he had ended, the old chief replied: "I gladly accept your 
salute of love and peace which, while I live, I shall exactly keep. 
His pledges thereof I receive with no less thanks, although they 
are not so great as I have received before. But, for my daughter, 
I have sold her within these few days to a great werowance, three 
days journey from me, for two bushels of rawrenoke." Hamor: 
"I know your highness, by returning the rawrenoke, might call 
her back again, to gratify your brother, Sir Thomas Dale, and the 
rather because she is but twelve years old. Besides its forming a 
bond of peace, you shall have in return for her, three times the 
value of the rawrenoke, in beads, copper, and hatchets." Pow- 
hatan : " I love my daughter as my life, and though I have many 
children, I delight in none so much as her, and if I should not 
often see her I could not possibly live, and if she lived at James- 
town I could not see her, having resolved on no terms to put my- 
self into your hands, or go among you. Therefore, I desire you 
to urge me no further, but return my brother this answer: I 
desire no firmer assurance of his friendship than the promise he 
hath made. From me he has a pledge, one of my daughters, which, 
so long as she lives, shall be sufficient; when she dies, he shall 
have another. I hold it not a brotherly part to desire to bereave 
me of my two children at once. Further, tell him that though 
he had no pledge at all, he need not fear any injury from me or 



114 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

my people; there have been too many of his men and mine slain; 
and, by my provocation, there never shall be any more, (I who 
have power to perform it, have said it,) even if I should have, just 
cause, for I am now old, and would gladly end my days in peace ; 
if you offer me injury, my country is large enough for me to go 
from you. This, I hope, will satisfy my brother. Now, since you 
are weary and I sleepy, we will here end." So Hamor and his 
companions lodged at Matchot that night. While there they saw 
William Parker, who had been captured three years before at Fort 
Henry. He had grown so like an Indian in complexion and 
manner, that his fellow-countrymen recognized him only by his 
language. He begged them to intercede for his release, but upon 
their undertaking it, Powhatan replied: "You have one of my 
daughters, and I am satisfied; but you cannot see one of your 
men with me, but you must have him away, or break friendship ; 
but if you must needs have him, you shall go home without 
guides, and if any evil befall you, thank yourselves." They 
answered him that if any harm befell them he must expect re- 
venge from his brother Dale. At this Powhatan, in a passion, 
left them; but returning to supper, he entertained them with a 
pleasant countenance. About midnight he awoke them, and pro- 
mised to let them return in the morning with Parker, and charged 
them to remind his brother Dale to send him ten large pieces of 
copper, a shaving-knife, a frowl, a grindstone, a net, fish-hooks, 
and other such presents. Lest they might forget, he made them 
write down the list of articles in a blank book that he had. They 
requesting him to give them the book, he declined doing so, say- 
ing, "it did him much good to show it to strangers."* 

During the year 1614 Sir Walter Raleigh published his " His- 
tory of the World;" Captain John Smith made a voyage to North 
Virginia, and gave it the name of New England; and the Dutch, 
as already mentioned, effected a settlement near the site of Al- 
bany, on the Hudson River. Sir Thomas Gates, upon his return 
to England, reported that the plantation of Virginia Avould fall 
to the ground unless soon reinforced with supplies, f Martin, a 
lawyer, employed by the Virginia Company to recommend some 

* Smith, ii. 21. j Court and Times of James tlie First, i. 311. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 115 

measure to the House of Commons, having spoken disparagingly 
of that body, was arraigned at the bar of the House; but, upon 
making due acknowledgment upon his knees, was pardoned.* 
During this year died Richard Hakluyt, the compiler of a cele- 
brated collection of voyages and discoveries. He was of an an- 
cient family in Herefordshire, and, after passing some time at 
Westminster School, was elected to a studentship at Oxford, where 
he contracted a friendship with Sir Philip Sydney, to whom he 
inscribed his first collection of Voyages and Discoveries printed 
in 1582. Having imbibed a taste for the study of geography and 
cosmography from a cousin of the same name, a student of law 
at the Temple, he applied himself to that department of learning 
with diligence, and was at length appointed to lecture at the 
University on that subject. He contributed valuable aid in fitting 
out Sir Humphrey Gilbert's expedition. Soon after, taking holy 
orders, he proceeded to Paris as chaplain to Sir Edward Stafford, 
the English Ambassador. During his absence he was appointed 
to a prebendal stall at Bristol, and upon his return to England he 
frequently resided there. He was afterwards preferred to the 
rectory of Witheringset, in Suffolk. In 1615 he was appointed 
a prebendary of Westminster, and became a member of the coun- 
cil of the Virginia Company. He continued to watch over the 
affairs of the colony until his death. He was buried in Westmin- 
ster Abbey. Hakluyt's Voyages consist of five volumes, folio. 

Pocahontas was now carefully instructed in the Christian reli- 
gion, and such was the change wrought in her, that after some 
time she lost all desire to return to her father, and retained no 
longer any fondness for the rude society of her own people. She 
had already, before her marriage, openly renounced the idolatry 
of her country, confessed the faith of Christ, and had been bap- 
tized. Master Whitaker, the preacher, in a letter dated June 
18th, 1614, expresses his surprise that so few of the English 
ministers, "that were so hot against the surplice and subscrip- 
tion," came over to Virginia, where neither was spoken of. At 
the end of June Captain Argall returned to England with tiding3 
of the more auspicious state of affairs. The Virginia Company 

* Court and Times of James the First, i. 317. 



116 HISTOKY OF THE COLONY AND 

now proceeded to draw the lottery, which had been made up to 
promote the interests of the colony, and twenty-nine thousand 
pounds were thus contributed; but Parliament shortly after pro- 
hibited this pernicious practice. It has been said that this is the 
first instance of raising money in England by lottery;* but this 
is erroneous, for there had been a lottery drawn for the purpose 
of repairing the harbors of the kingdom as far back as 1569.f 

The year 1615 is remarkable in Virginia history for the first 
establishment of a fixed property in the soil, fifty acres of land 
being granted by the company to every freeman in absolute 
right. J This salutary reform was brought about mainly by the 
influence of Sir Thomas Dale, one of the best of the early go- 
vernors. Sir Thomas having now, after a stay of five years in 
Virginia, established good order at Jamestown, appointed George 
Yeardley to be deputy governor in his absence, and embarked for 
England, accompanied by John Rolfe and his wife, the Princess 
Pocahontas, and other Indians of both sexes. They arrived at 
Plymouth on the 12th of June, 1616, about six weeks after the 
death of Shakespeare, who died on the twenty-third of April. 
The arrival is thus noticed in a news-letter: "Sir Thomas Dale 
is arrived from Virginia, and brought with him some ten or twelve 
old and young of that country, among whom is Pocahontas, 
daughter of Powhatan, a king or cacique of that country, mar- 
ried to one Rolfe, an Englishman. I hear not of any other riches 
or matter of worth, but only some quantity of sassafras, tobacco, 
pitch, tar, and clapboard — things of no great value, unless there 
were plenty and nearer hand. All I can hear of it is, that the 
country is good to live in, if it were stored with people, and 
might in time become commodious. But there is no present profit 
to be expected."§ 

Reverting to the condition of affairs in the colony, it is to be 
observed, that the oligarchical government of the president and 
council, with all its odious features, had long before this come to 
an end; order and diligence had now taken the place of confu- 



* Chalmers' Annals, S3. •)- Anderson's Hist. Col. Church, i. 27, in note. 

J Chalmers' Introduc, i. 10. 

§ Court and Times of James the First, i. 415. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 117 

sion and idleness; peace with the Indians had given rise to a free 
trade with them, and the English acquired their commodities by 
lawful purchase instead of extorting them by force of arms. 
The places inhabited by the whites, at this time, were Henrico 
and the limits, Bermuda Nether Hundred, West and Shirley 
Hundred, Jamestown, Kiquotan, and Dale's Gift. At Henrico 
there were thirty-eight men and boys, of whom twenty-two were 
farmers. The Rev. William Wickham was the minister of this 
place. It was the seat of the college established for the education 
of the natives ; they had already brought hither some of their chil- 
dren, of both sexes, to be taught. At Bermuda Nether Hundred 
(Presquile) the number of inhabitants was one hundred and nine- 
teen. Captain Yeardley, deputy governor, lived here for the 
most part. The minister here was Master Alexander Whitaker. 
At West and Shirley Hundred there were twenty-five men under 
Captain Madison. At Jamestown fifty, under Captain Francis 
West; the Rev. Mr. Bucke minister. At Kiquotan Captain Webb 
commanded; Rev. Mr. Mease the minister. Dale's Gift, on the 
sea-coast, near Cape Charles, was occupied by seventeen men 
under Lieutenant Cradock. The total population of the colony, 
at this time, was three hundred and fifty-one.* Yeardley directed 
the attention of the colony to tobacco, as the most saleable com- 
modity that they could raise, and its cultivation was introduced 
into Virginia in this year, 1616, for the first time. The English 
now found the climate to suit their constitutions so well, that 
fewer people died here in proportion than in England. The 
Chickahominies refusing to pay the tribute of corn agreed upon 
by the treaty, Yeardley went up their river with one hundred 
men, and, after killing some and making some prisoners, brought 
off much of their corn. On his return he met Opechancanough 
at Ozinies, about twelve miles above the mouth of the Chickaho- 
rniny. In this expedition Henry Spilman, who had been rescued 
from death by Pocahontas, now a captain, acted as interpreter. 



* Sir Thomas Dale, at one haul with a seine, had caught five thousand fish, 
three hundred of which were as large as cod, and the smallest of the others a 
kind of salmon-trout, two feet long. He durst not adventure on the main school, 
for fear it would destroy his nets. 



118 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

In the mean time Pocahontas was kindly received in London ; 
bj the care of her husband and friends she was, by this time, 
taught to speak English intelligibly; her manners received the 
softening influence of English refinement, and her mind was 
enlightened by the truths of religion. Having given birth to a 
son, the Virginia Company provided for the maintenance of them 
both, and many persons of quality wei*e very kind to her. Be- 
fore she reached London, Captain Smith, who was well acquainted 
at court, and in especial favor with Prince Charles, in requital 
for her former preservation of his life, had prepared an account 
of her in a small book, and he presented it to Queen Anne. But, 
at this time, being about to embark for New England, he could 
not pay her such attentions as he desired and she well deserved. 
Nevertheless, learning that she was staying at Brentford, where 
she had repaired in order to avoid the smoke of the city, he went, 
accompanied by several friends, to see her. After a modest saluta- 
tion, without uttering a word, she turned away, and hid her face, 
as if offended. In that posture she remained for two or three 
hours, her husband and Smith and the rest of the company having, 
in the mean while, gone out of the room, and Smith now regretting 
that he had written to the queen that Pocahontas could speak 
English. At length she began to talk, and she reminded Captain 
Smith of the kindness she had shown him in her own country, 
saying: "You did promise Powhatan what was yours should be 
his, and he the like to you; you called him father, being in his 
land a stranger, and for the same reason so I must call you." 
But Smith, on account of the king's overweening and preposte- 
rous jealousy of the royal prerogative, felt constrained to decline 
the appellation of "father," for she was "a king's daughter." 
She then exclaimed, with a firm look: "Were you not afraid to 
come into my father's country, and cause fear in him and all his 
people (but me,) and fear you here that I should call you father? 
I tell you then I will, and you shall call me child, and I will be 
forever and ever your countrywoman. They did tell us always 
you were dead, and I knew no other till I came to Plymouth; 
yet Powhatan did command Uttomattomakkin to seek you, and 
know the truth, -because your countrymen will lie much." It is 
remarkable that Rolfe, her husband, must have been privy to the 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 119 

deception thus practised on her; are we to attribute this to his 
secret apprehension that she would never marry him until she 
believed that Smith was dead? 

Tomocomo, or Uttamattomakkin, or Uttamaccomack, husband 
of Matachanna, one of Powhatan's daughters, being a priest, and 
esteemed a wise and knowing one among his people, Powhatan, 
or, as Sir Thomas Dale supposed, Opechancanough, had sent him 
out to England, in company of Pocahontas, to number the people 
there, and bring back to him an account of that country. Upon 
landing at Plymouth he provided himself, according to his in- 
structions, with a long stick, and undertook, by notching it, to 
keep a tally of all the men he could see; but he soon grew weary 
of the task, and gave it out in despair. Meeting with Captain 
Smith in London, Uttamattomakkin told him that Powhatan had 
ordered him to seek him out, that he might show him the English 
God, the king, queen, and prince. Being informed that he had 
already seen the king, he denied it; but on being convinced of 
it, he said: "You gave Powhatan a white dog, which Powhatan 
fed as himself; but your king gave me nothing, and I am better 
than your white dog." On his return to Virginia, when Pow- 
hatan interrogated him as to the number of people in England, 
he is said to have replied: "Count the stars in the heavens, the 
leaves on the trees, the sands on the sea-shore." Whether this 
and other such figurative expressions attributed to the Indians, 
were actually uttered by them, or whether they have received 
some poetical embellishment in the course of interpretation, the 
judicious reader may determine for himself. 

During Smith's brief stay in London, many courtiers and 
others of his acquaintance daily called upon him for the purpose 
of being introduced to Pocahontas, and they expressed them- 
selves satisfied that the hand of Providence was manifest in her 
conversion, and declared that they had seen many English ladies 
worse favored, proportioned, and behaviored. She was presented 
at Court by Lady Dekware, attended by the lord her husband, 
and other persons of quality, and was graciously received. Her 
modest, dignified, and graceful deportment, excited the admira- 
tion of all, and she received the particular attentions of the king 
and queen. 



120 HISTORY OF TIIE COLONY AND 

It is said, upon the authority of a well-established tradition, 
that King James was at first greatly offended at Rolfe for having 
presumed to marry a princess without his consent; but that upon 
a fuller representation of the matter, his majesty was pleased to 
express himself satisfied. There is hardly any folly so foolish 
but that it may have been committed by "the wisest fool in 
Christendom." 

"The Virginia woman, Pocahontas, with her father counsellor, 
have been with the king, and graciously used, and both she and 
her assistant well placed at the masque."* She was styled the 
"Lady Pocahontas," and carried herself "as the daughter of a 
king." Lady Delaware and other noble persons waited on her 
to masquerades, balls, plays, and other public entertainments. 
Purchas, the compiler of Voyages and Travels, was present at 
an entertainment given in honor of her by the Bishop of London, 
Doctor King, which exceeded in pomp and splendor any other 
entertainment of the kind that the author of "The Pilgrim" had 
ever witnessed there. 

Sir Walter Raleigh, after thirteen years' confinement in the 
Tower, had been released on the seventeenth of March preceding, 
and, upon gaining his liberty, he went about the city looking at 
the changes that had occurred since his imprisonment. It is not 
improbable that he may have seen Pocahontas. 

Early in 1617 John Rolfe prepared to embark for Virginia, 
with his wife and child, in Captain Argall's vessel, the George. 
Pocahontas was reluctant to return. On the eve of her embarka- 
tion it pleased God to take her unexpectedly from the world. 
She died at Gravesend, on the Thames, in the latter part of 
March. As her life had been sweet and lovely, so her death 
was serene, and crowned with the hopes of religion. 

" The Virginia woman, whose picture I sent you, died this last 
week at Gravesend, as she was returning home."* The parish 
register of burials at Gravesend, in the County of Kent, con- 
tains the following entry: "1616, March 21, Rebecca Wrothe, 



* Court and Times of James the First, i. 388. 

f Letter of John Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, dated at London, March, 
1617, in Court and Times of James the First, ii. 3. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 121 

wyffe of Thomas Wrothe, Gent. A Virginia Lady borne, was 
buried in the Chancell." The date, 1616, corresponds with the 
historical year 1617. It appears that there was formerly a family 
of the name of Wrothe resident near Gravesend. This name 
might therefore easily be confounded with that of Rolfe, the sound 
being similar. Nor is the mistake of Thomas for John at all im- 
probable. Gravesend Church, in which Pocahontas was buried, 
was destroyed by fire in 1727, and no monument to her memory 
remains, if any ever existed.* 

According to Strachey, a good authority, the Indians had 
several different names given them at different times, and Pow- 
hatan called his favorite daughter when quite young, Pocahontas, 
that is, "Little Wanton," but at a riper age she was called Amo- 
nate. According to Stith,f her real name was Matoax, which 
the people of her nation concealed from the English, and changed 
it to Pocahontas from a superstitious fear, lest, knowing her true 
name, they should do her some injury. Others suppose Matoax 
to have been her individual name, Pocahontas her title. After 
her conversion she was baptized by the name of Rebecca, and she 
was sometimes styled the "Lady Rebecca." The ceremony of 
her baptism has been made the subject of a picture, (by Chap- 
man,) exhibited in the rotundo of the Capitol at Washington. 

Of the brothers of Pocahontas, Nantaquaus, or Nantaquoud, is 
especially distinguished for having shown Captain Smith "ex- 
ceeding great courtesy," interceding with his father, Powhatan, 
in behalf of the captive, and he was the " manliest, comeliest, 
boldest spirit," Smith ever saw in a savage. 

Of the sisters of Pocahontas two are particularly mentioned, 
Cleopatre and Matachanna. Strachey has recorded the names 
of the numerous wives and children of Powhatan, the greater 
part of which are harsh and guttural, and apparently almost in- 
capable of being pronounced by the vocal organs of civilized man. 

Smith says that Pocahontas, "with her wild train, visited 
Jamestown as freely as her father's habitation." In these visits 



* Letter of C. W. Martin, Leeds Castle, England, to Conway Robinson, Esq., 
in Va. Hist. Reg , ii. 187. 
f Stith, 136 and 285. 



122 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

she had to cross the York River, some two miles wide, in a canoe, 
("quintan" in the Powhatan language,) and then walk some ten 
or twelve miles across to Jamestown. She is described as "being 
of a great spirit, however her stature;" from which it may be in- 
ferred that she was below the middle height.* She died at the 
age of twenty-two, having been born about the year 1595. Her 
infant son, Thomas Rolfe, was left for a time at Plymouth, under 
the care of Sir Lewis Stukely, Vice-Admiral of Devon, who after- 
wards, by his base treachery toward Sir Walter Raleigh, covered 
himself with infamy, and by dishonest and criminal practices re- 
duced himself to beggary. The son of Pocahontas was subse- 
quently removed to London, where he was educated under the 
care of his uncle, Henry Rolfe, a merchant. f 

Thomas Rolfe came to Virginia and became a person of fortune 
and note in the colony. It has been said that he married in 
England a Miss Poyers; however that may have been, he left an 
only daughter, Jane Rolfe, who married Colonel Robert Boiling. 
He lies buried at Farmingdale, in the County of Prince George.! 
This Colonel Robert Boiling was the son of John and Mary Boi- 
ling, of Alhallows, Barkin Parish, Tower Street, London. He 
was born in December, 1646, and came to Virginia in October, 
1660, and died in July, 1709, aged sixty-two years. Colonel 
Robert Boiling, and Jane Rolfe, his wife, left an only son, Major 
John Boiling, father of Colonel John Boiling and several 
daughters, who married respectively, Col. Richard Randolph, 
Colonel John Fleming, Doctor William Gay, Mr. Thomas Eld- 
ridge, and Mr. James Murray. 

Censure is sometimes cast upon Captain Smith for having 
failed to marry Pocahontas; but history no where gives any just 
ground for such a reproach. The rescue of Smith took place in 



* Smith, ii. 31; Beverley, B. i. 27. f Stith, 144; Beverley, B. i. 34. 

J Of Farmingdale, or Farmingdell, John Randolph of Roanoke said, in a letter 
dated 1832: "But the true name is Kippax, called after the village of Kippax 
and Kippax Park, adjacent thereto, the seat of my maternal ancestors, the Elands, 
of the West Riding of York." Bland, of Kippax, County York, anciently seated 
at Bland's Gill, in that county, was raised to the degree of baronet in 1642. 
The present representative (1854) is Thomas Davison Bland, of Kippax Park, 
Esq. Gill signifies dell or valley. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 123 

the winter of 1607, when he was twenty-eight years of age, and 
she only twelve or thirteen.* Smith left Virginia early in 1609, 
and never returned. Pocahontas was then about fourteen years 
of age; but if she had been older, it would have been impossible 
for him to marry her unless by kidnapping her, as was done by 
the unscrupulous Argall some years afterwards — a measure which, 
if it had been adopted in 1609, when the colony was so feeble, 
and so rent by faction, would probably have provoked the ven- 
geance of Powhatan, and overwhelmed the plantation in prema- 
ture ruin. It was in 1612 that Argall captured Pocahontas on 
the banks of the Potomac, and from the departure of Smith until 
this time she never had been seen at Jamestown, but had lived on 
the distant banks of the Potomac. In the spring of 1613 it is 
stated, that long before that time "Mr. John Rolfe had been in 
love with Pocahontas, and she with him." This attachment 
must, therefore, have been formed immediately after her capture, 
if it did not exist before ; and the marriage took place in April, 
1613. It is true that Pocahontas had been led to believe that 
Smith was dead, and in practising this deception upon her, Rolfe 
must have been a party ; but Smith was in no manner whatever 
privy to it ; he cherished for her a friendship animated by the 
deepest emotions of gratitude ; and friendship, according to Spen- 
ser, a cotemporary poet, is a more exalted sentiment than love. 
Pocahontas appears to have regarded Smith with a sort of filial 
affection, and she accordingly said to him, in the interview at 
Brentford, "I tell you then, I will call you father, and you shall 
call me child." The delusion practised on her relative to Smith's 
death would, indeed, seem to argue an apprehension on the part 
of Rolfe and his friends that she would not marry another while 
Smith was alive, and the particular circumstances of the inter- 
view at Brentford would seem to confirm the existence of such an 
apprehension. Yet, however that may have been, the honor and 
integrity of Smith remain untarnished. 

* Inscription of date on Smith's likeness, prefixed to his history; Stith, 55, 127. 



CHAPTER IX. 



lGir-1618. 



Argall, Governor — Condition of Jamestown — Death of Lord Delaware — Name of 
Delaware River — Argall's Martial Law — Brewster's Case — Argall leaves Vir- 
ginia — His Character — Powhatan's Death — His Name, Personal Appearance, 
Dominions, Manner of Life, Character — Succeeded by Opitchapan. 

Lord Rich, an unscrupulous and corrupt head of a faction in 
the Virginia Company, having entered into partnership with 
Captain Samuel Argall, (a relative of Sir Thomas Smith, the 
Treasurer or Governor of the Company,) by his intrigues contrived 
to have him elected Deputy-Governor of Virginia and Admiral 
of that country and the seas adjoining. He sailed for Virginia 
early in 1617, accompanied by Ralph Hamor, his vice-admiral, 
and arrived at Jamestown in May. Argall was welcomed by 
Captain Yeardley and his company, the right file of which was 
led by an Indian. At Jamestown were found but five or six 
habitable houses, the church fallen, the palisades broken, the 
bridge foundrous, the well spoiled, the storehouse used for a 
church; the market-place, streets, and other vacant ground 
planted with tobacco; the savages as frequent in the houses as 
the English, who were dispersed about as each man could find a 
convenient j)lace for planting corn and tobacco. Tomocomo, who 
(together with the other Indians that had gone out to England in 
the suite of Pocahontas, as may be presumed, although the fact 
is not expressly mentioned,) had returned with Argall, was imme- 
diately, upon his arrival, sent to Opechancanough, who came to 
Jamestown, and received a present with great joy and thankful- 
ness. But Tomocomo denounced England and the English in 
bitter terms, especially Sir Thomas Dale. Powhatan having some 
time before this resigned the cares of government into the hands 
of Opechancanough, went about from place to place, still con- 
tinuing in friendship with the English, but greatly lamenting the 
death of Pocahontas. He rejoiced, nevertheless, that her child 
(124) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 125 

was living, and lie and Opechancanough both expressed much 
desire to see him. During this year a Mr. Lambert introduced 
the method of curing tobacco on lines instead of in heaps, as had 
been the former practice.* Argall's energetic measures procured 
from the Indians, by trade, a supply of corn. The whole num- 
ber of colonists now was about four hundred, with numerous 
cattle, goats, and swine. The corn contributed to the public 
store was about four hundred and fifty bushels, and from the tri- 
butary Indians seven hundred and fifty, being considerably less 
than the usual quantity. Of the "Company's company" there 
remained not more than fifty-four, including men, women, and 
children. Drought, and a storm that poured down hailstones 
eight or nine inches in circumference, greatly damaged the crops 
of corn and tobacco. 

The following is found among the early records : — 

"By the Admiral, etc. 

"To all to whom these presents shall come, I, Samuel Argall, 
Esq., admiral, and for the time present principal Governor of 
Virginia, send greeting in our Lord God everlasting, si'thence in 
all places of wars and garrison towns, it is most expedient and 
necessary to have an honest and careful provost marshall, to 
whose charge and safe custody all delinquents and prisoners of 
what nature or quality soever their offences be, are to be commit- 
ted; now know ye that for the honesty, sufficiency, and careful- 
ness in the execution and discharge of the said office, which I 
conceived of William Cradock, I do by these presents nominate, 
constitute, ordain, and appoint the said William Cradock to be 
provost marshall of the Bermuda City, and of all the Hundred 
thereto belonging, giving and granting unto the said William Cra- 
dock, all power and authority to execute all such offices, duties, and 
commands belonging to the said place of provost marshall ; with 
all privileges, rights, and preeminences thereunto belonging, and 
in all cases which require his speedy execution of his said office, 
by virtue of these presents, he shall require all captains, officers, 
soldiers, or any other members of this colony, to be aiding and 



* Stith, 147. 



126 HISTORY OP THE COLONY AND 

assisting to him, to oppose all mutinies, factions, rebellions, and 
all other discords contrary to the quiet and peaceable government 
of this Commonwealth, as they will answer the contrary at their 
peril. 

"Given at Bermuda City this twentieth of February, in the 
15th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord James, by the 
Grace of God, King of England, and of Scotland the 51st, and 
in the 11th year of this Plantation. Anno Domini, 1617. 

"Extract and recorded per John Rolf, Sec'y and Recorder 
Genl. 

["Copia. Test. R. Hickman, Ck. Secy's office."] 

To reinforce the colony the Company sent out a vessel of two 
hundred and fifty tons, well stored, with two hundred and fifty 
people, under command of Lord Delaware. They set sail in 
April, 1618; during the voyage thirty died, and among them 
Lord Delaware, a generous friend of the colony. The intelli- 
gence of his death reached London October fifth. Stith* says: 
"And I think I have somewhere seen that he died about the 
mouth of Delaware Bay, which thence took its name from him." 
Stith fell into a mistake on this point, and Belknap, equally dis- 
tinguished for his general accuracy, has followed him.f Dela- 
ware Bay (the mouth of the river called by the Indians Chilio- 
hocki) and River were named as early as 1611, when Lord 
Delaware put in there, during his homeward voyage. J According 
to Strachey, the bay was discovered in 1610, by Captain Argall, 
and he named Cape Delaware, "where he caught halibut, cod, and 
ling fish, and brought some of them to Jamestown." 

His lordship's family name was West, and persons descended 
from the same stock are yet found in Virginia bearing the name. 
West-Point, at the head of York, derived its name from the same 
source, and it was at first called Delaware. Lord Delaware mar- 
ried, in 1602, the daughter of Sir Thomas Shirley, of Whiston; 
and, perhaps, the name of Shirley, the ancient seat on James 
River, may be traced to this source. 



* Stith, 147. f Belknap, ii. 115. 

X Anderson's Hist, of Col. Church, i. 271-311. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 127 

Martial law had already been established in Virginia by Dale; 
Argall came over invested with powers to make the government 
still more arbitrary and despotic, and bent upon acquiring gain 
by all possible means of extortion and oppression. He decreed 
that goods should be sold at an advance of twenty-five per cent., 
and tobacco rated at the Procrustean value of three shillings — 
the penalty for rating it either higher or lower being three years 
slavery to the colony; that there should be no trade or inter- 
course with the Indians, and that none of them should be taught 
the use of fire-arms ; the penalty for violating which ordinance 
was death to teacher and learner. Yet it has been contended by 
some, that the use of fire-arms by the savages hastened their ex- 
termination, because they thus became dependent on the whites 
for arms and ammunition; when their guns came to be out of 
order they became useless to them, for they wanted the skill to 
repair them; and, lastly, fire-arms in their hands when effective, 
were employed by hostile tribes in mutual destruction. 

"The white faith of history cannot show 
That e'er a musket yet could beat a bow."* 

Argall also issued edicts that no one should hunt deer or hogs 
without his leave; that no man should fire a gun before a new 
supply of ammunition, except in self-defence, on pain of a year's 
slavery; absence from church on Sundays or holidays, was 
punished by confinement for the night and one week's slavery to 
the colony; for the second offence the offender should be a slave 
for a month ; and for the third, for a year and a day. Several 
of these regulations were highly judicious, but the penalties of 
some of them were excessive and barbarous, and the vigorous 
enforcement of these, and his oppressive proceedings, rendered 
Argall odious to the colony, and a report of his tyranny and ex- 
tortions having reached England, Sir Thomas Smith, Alderman 
Johnson, deputy treasurer, Sir Lionel Cranfield, and others of 
the council, addressed a letter dated August 23, 1618, to him, in 
which they recapitulated a series of charges against him of dis- 
honesty, corruption, and oppression. At the same time a letter, 

* Cited iu Logan's Scottish Gael, 223. 



128 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

of the same purport, was written to Lord Delaware, and he was 
told, that such was the indignation felt by the stockholders in the 
Virginia Company against Argall that they could hardly be re- 
strained from going to the king, although on a distant progress, 
and procuring his majesty's command for recalling him as a male- 
factor. The letter contained further instructions to Lord Dela- 
ware to seize upon all the goods and property in Argall's posses- 
sion. These letters, by Lord Delaware's death, fell into Argall's 
hands, and finding his sand running low, he determined to make 
the best of his remaining time, and so he multiplied his exactions, 
and grew more tyrannical than ever. J The case of E dwar d Brew- 
ster was a remarkable instance of thisf A person of good repute 
m the colony, he had the management of Lord Delaware's estate. 
Argall, without any rightful authority, removed the servants from 
his lordship's land, and employed them on his own. Brewster 
endeavored to make them return, and upon this being flatly re- 
fused by one of them, threatened him with the consequences of 
his contumacy. Brewster was immediately arrested by Argall's 
order, charged with sedition and mutiny, and condemned to death 
by a court-martial. The members of the court, however, and 
some of the clergy, shocked at such a conviction, interceded 
earnestly for his pardon, and Argall reluctantly granted it on con- 
dition that Brewster should depart from Virginia, with an oath 
never to return, and never to say or do anything to the disparage- 
ment of the deputy governor. Brewster, nevertheless, upon his 
return to England, discarding the obligation of an oath ex- 
torted under duress, appealed to the Company against the tyranny 
of the deputy governor, and the inhuman sentence was reversed. 
John Rolfe, a friend of Argall, made light of the affair.* \ 

During this year, 1618, a ship called the Treasurer was sent 
out from England by Lord Rich, who had now become Earl of 
Warwick, a person of great note afterwards in the civil wars, and 
commander of the fleet against the king. This ship was manned 
with recruits from the colony, and dispatched on a semi-piratical 
cruise in the West Indies, where she committed some depreda- 
tions on the Spanish possessions. 

* Smith, ii. 37. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 129 

Upon receiving intelligence of the death of Lord Delaware, the 
Virginia Company appointed Captain George Yeardley, who was 
knighted upon this occasion, Governor and Captain-General of 
Virginia. Before his arrival in the colony Argall embarked for 
England, in a vessel laden with his effects, and being a rela- 
tion of Sir Thomas Smith, and a partner in trade of the profligate 
Earl of Warwick, he escaped with impunity. In 1620 Argall 
commanded a ship-of-war in an expedition fitted out against the 
Algerines, and in 1623 was knighted by King James. Argall's 
character has been variously represented; he appears to have 
been an expert mariner of talents, courage, enterprise, and 
energy, but selfish, avaricious, unscrupulous, arbitrary and cruel. 

In April, 1618, Powhatan died, being upwards of seventy 
years of age. He was, perhaps, so called from one of his 
places of residence;* he was also sometimes styled Ottaniack, 
and sometimes Mamanatowick,f but his proper name was 
Wahunsonacock. The country subject to him was called Pow- 
hatan, as was likewise the chief river, and his subjects were 
called Powhatans. His hereditary domain consisted only of 
Powhatan, Arrohattox, Appamatuck, Youghtanund, Pamunkey, 
and Matapony, together with Werowocomoco and Kiskiack. All 
the rest were his conquests, and they consisted of the country on 
the James River and its branches, from its mouth to the falls, 
and thence across the country to the north, nearly as high as the 
falls of all the great rivers over the Potomac, as far as to the 
Patuxent in Maryland. Some nations on the Eastern Shore also 
owned subjection to this mighty werowance. In each of his 
several hereditary dominions he had houses built like arbors, 
thirty or forty feet long, and whenever he was about to visit one 
of these, it was supplied beforehand with provision for his enter- 
tainment. The English first met with him at a place of his own 
name, (which it stilL. retains,) a short, distance below the falls of 
James River, where now stands the picturesque City of Rich- 
mond. I His favorite residence was Werowocomoco, on the east 



* Stith, 53. f Strachey. 

X In an act, dated 1705, found in the old "Laws of Virginia," mention is made 
of a ferry from Fowhatantown to the landing at Swineherd's. The site of this 

9 



130 HISTORY OP THE COLONY AND 

bank of what is now known as Timberneck Bay, on York River, 
in the County of Gloucester; but in his latter years, disrelishing 
the increasing proximity of the English, he withdrew himself to 
Orapakes, a hunting- town in the "desert," as it was called, more 
properly the wilderness, between the Chickahominy and the 
Pamunkey. It is not improbable that he died and was buried 
there, for a mile from Orapakes, in the midst of the woods, he 
had a house where he kept his treasure of furs, copper, pearl, and 
beads, "which he storeth up against the time of his death and 
burial."* This place is about twelve miles northeast from Rich- 
mond. 

At the time of the first settlement of the colony, Powhatan was 
usually attended, especially when asleep, by a body-guard of fifty 
tall warriors ; he afterwards augmented the number to about two 
hundred. He had as many wives as he pleased, and when tired 
of any one of them, he bestowed her on some favorite. In the 
year 1608, by treachery, he surprised the Payanketanks, his own 
subjects, while asleep in their cabins, massacred twenty- four men, 
and made prisoners their werowance with the women and chil- 
dren, who were reduced to slavery. Captain Smith, himself a 
prisoner, saw at Werowocomoco the scalps of the slain suspended 
on a line between two trees. Powhatan caused certain malefac- 
tors to be bound hand and foot, then a great quantity of burning 
coals to be collected from a number of fires, and raked round in 
the form of a cock-pit, and the victims of his barbarity thrown 
in the midst and burnt to death. f He was not entirely destitute 
of some better qualities ; in him some touches of princely magna- 
nimity are curiously blended with huckstering cunning, and the 
tenderness of a doating father with the cruelty of an unrelenting 
despot. 

Powhatan was succeeded by his second brother, Opitchapan, 
sometimes called Itopatin, or Oeatan, who, upon his accession, 
again changed his name to Sasawpen; as Opechancanough, upon 

Powhatantown is on the upper part of Flower de Hundred Plantation. Nume- 
rous Indian relics have been found there, and earthworks, evidently thrown up 
for fortification, are still extant. The name of Powhatantown was given to this 
spot by the whites. Near Jamestown is the extensive Powhatan Swamp. 
* Smith, i. 143. f Smith, i. 144. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 131 

the like occasion, changed his to Mangopeomen. Opitchapan 
being decrepid in body and inert in mind, was in a short time 
practically superseded in the government by his younger, bolder, 
and more ambitious brother, the famous Opechancanough ; though 
for a time he was content to be styled the Werowance of Chicka- 
hominy. Both renewed the assurances of continued friendship 
with the English. 



CHAPTER X. 

Sir Walter Raleigh — His Birth and Parentage — Student at Oxford — Enlists in 
Service of Queen of Navarre — His stay in France — Returns to England — At 
the Middle Temple — Serves in Netherlands and Ireland — Return? to England — 
His Gallantry — Undertakes Colonization of Virginia — Member of Parliament — 
Knighted — In Portuguese Expedition — Loses Favor at Court — Retires to Ire- 
land — Spenser — Sir Walter in the Tower — His Flattery of the Queen — She 
grants him the Manor of Sherborne — His Expedition to Guiana — Joins Expe- 
dition against Cadiz — Wounded — Makes another Voyage to Guiana — Restored 
to Queen's Favor — Contributes to Defeat of Treason of Essex — Raleigh made 
Governor of Jersey — His Liberal Sentiments — Elizabeth's Death — Accession 
of James the First — Raleigh confined in the Tower — Found guilty of High 
Treason — Reprieved — Still a Prisoner in the Tower — Devotes himself to Study 
— His Companions — His "History of the World" — Lady Raleigh's Petition — 
Raleigh Released — His Last Expedition to Guiana — Its Failure — His Son 
killed — Sir Walter's Return to England — His Arrest, Condemnation, Execu- 
tion, Character. 

During the same year, 1618, died the founder of Virginia 
colonization, the famous Sir "Walter Raleigh. He was horn at 
Hayes, a farm in the Parish of Budley, Devonshire, 1552, heing 
the fourth son of Walter Raleigh, Esq., of Fardel, near Ply- 
mouth, and Catharine, daughter of Sir Philip Champernon, and 
widow of Otho Gilbert, of Compton, Devonshire. After passing 
some time at Oriel College, Oxford, about the year 1568, where 
he distinguished himself by his genius and attainments, at the 
age of seventeen he joined a volunteer company of gentlemen, 
under Henry Champernon, in an expedition to assist the Pro- 
testant Queen of Navarre. He remained in France five years, 
and while in Paris, under the protection of the English embassy, 
he witnessed the massacre of St. Bartholomew's day. On re- 
turning to England he was for a while in the Middle Temple; 
but whether as a student is uncertain. His leisure hours were 
devoted to poetry. In the year 1578 he accompanied Sir John 
Norris to the Netherlands. In the following year he joined in 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert's first and unsuccessful voyage. Now, 
when at the age of twenty-seven, it is said that of the twenty- 
(132) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 133 

four hours he allotted four to study and only five to sleep ; but 
this is rather improbable, for so much activity of employment as 
always characterized him, demanded a proportionate degree of 
repose. In 1580 he served in Ireland as captain of horse, under 
Lord Grey, and became familiar with the dangers and atrocities 
of civil war. In 1581, the following year, he became acquainted 
with the poet Spenser, then resident at Kilcolman. Disgusted 
with a painful service, Raleigh returned to England during 
this year, and it was at this period that he exhibited a famous 
piece of gallantry to the queen. She, in a walk, coming to a 
"plashy place," hesitated to proceed, when he "cast and spread 
his new plush cloak on the ground" for her to tread on. By his 
graceful wit and fascinating manners, he rose rapidly in Eliza- 
beth's favor, and "she took him for a kind of oracle." His 
munificent and persevering efforts in the colonization of Virginia 
ought to have moderated the too sweeping charge of levity and 
fickleness brought against him by Hume. 

During the year 1583 Raleigh became member of Parliament 
for Devonshire ; was knighted, and made Seneschal of Cornwall 
and Warden of the Stanneries. Engaged in the expedition 
whose object was to place Don Antonio on the throne of Portu- 
gal, Sir Walter for his good conduct received a gold chain from 
the queen. The rivalship of the Earl of Essex having driven 
Raleigh into temporary exile in Ireland, he there renewed his 
acquaintance with the author of the "Faery Queen," who accom- 
panied him on his return to England. 

Sir Walter was arrested in 1592, and confined in the Tower, 
on account of a criminal intrigue with one of the maids of honor, 
who was imprisoned at the same time ; and this incident is alluded 
to in Sir Walter Scott's "Fortunes of Nigel." The lady was 
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, and a cele- 
brated beauty, whom Raleigh afterwards married. In a letter 
written from the Tower, and addressed to Sir Robert Cecil, 
Raleigh indulged in a vein of extravagant flattery of the queen : 
"I that was wont to behold her riding like Alexander, hunting 
like Diana, walking like Venus — the gentle wind blowing her fair 
hair about her pure cheeks like a nymph; sometime sitting in the 
shade like a goddess; sometime singing like an angel; sometime 



134 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

playing like Orpheus." Elizabeth was at this time about sixty 
years old. 

In 1593 she granted him the Manor of Sherborne, in Dorset- 
shire. About this period he distinguished himself in the House 
of Commons. In 1595 he commanded an expedition to Guiana, 
in quest of the golden El Dorado, and another in the following 
year. In an expedition against Cadiz he led the van in action, 
and received a severe wound in the leg. Upon his return to Eng- 
land he embarked in his third voyage to Guiana. In 1597 he 
was restored to his place of captain of the guard, and entirely 
reinstated in the queen's favor. 

Essex having engaged in a rash treasonable conspiracy, the ob- 
ject of which was to seize upon the queen's person, so as thereby 
to control the government, Raleigh aided in defeating his de- 
signs. But after the execution of his popular rival, Raleigh's 
fortune began to wane. Nevertheless, in 1600 he was made Go- 
vernor of the Isle of Jersey. In the following year,, in a speech 
made in Parliament on an act for sowing hemp, Sir Walter said : 
"For my part, I do not like this constraining of men to manure 
or use their grounds at our wills, but rather let every man use 
his ground to that which it is most fit for, and therein use his 
discretion." Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, and Raleigh's happi- 
ness ended with her life. 

James the First came to the throne of Great Britain prejudiced 
against Raleigh. He was also at this time extremely unpopular, 
and especially odious to the friends of the highly gifted, but rash 
and unfortunate Earl of Essex. In three months after the arrival 
of King James in England, Sir Walter was arrested on a charge 
of high treason, in conspiring with the Lords Cobham and Grey 
to place the Lady Arabella Stuart on the throne. Arraigned 
on charges frivolous and contradictory, tried under circumstances 
of insult and oppression, he was found guilty without any suffi- 
cient evidence. By their conduct on this occasion, Sir Edward 
Coke, Lord Chief Justice Popham, and Sir Robert Cecil proved 
themselves fit tools for the abject and heartless James. Raleigh, 
though reprieved, remained a prisoner in the Tower at the king's 
mercy. 

Lady Raleigh and her son were not excluded from the Tower, 






ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 135 

and Carew, the youngest, was born there. During his long con- 
finement, Sir Walter devoted himself to literature and science, 
and enjoyed the society of a few friends, among them Hariot and 
the Earl of Northumberland, who was likewise a State prisoner. 
Sir Walter was also frequently visited by Prince Henry, the heir- 
apparent, who was devotedly attached to him, and who said that 
"none but his father would keep such a bird in a cage." Prince 
Charles, on the contrary, appears to have entertained a strong 
dislike to him. In the Tower Raleigh composed his great work, 
the "History of the World," the first volume of which appeared 
in the year 1614; it extended from the creation to the close of 
the Macedonian war, and embraced a period of about four thou- 
sand years. It was dedicated to Prince Henry. Raleigh in- 
tended to compose two other volumes, but owing to the untimely 
death of that prince, and to the suppression of it by King James, 
on the ground that it censured princes too freely, and perhaps to 
the magnitude of the task, he proceeded no further than the first 
volume. Oliver Cromwell recommended this work to his son. 

During his confinement the king gave away Raleigh's estate of 
Sherborne to his favorite, Sir Robert Carr, afterwards the in- 
famous Viscount Rochester and Earl of Somerset, who swayed 
the influence at Court from 1611 to 1615, when he was supplanted 
by the equally corrupt George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. 

When Lady Raleigh, with her children around her, kneeling in 
tears, besought James to restore this estate, the only answer she 
received was, "I maun have the land, I maun have it for Carr." 
At length, owing in part to the death of some of his enemies, and 
in part to the influence of money, Sir Walter Raleigh was re- 
leased from the Tower for the purpose of making another voyage 
to Guiana. The expedition failed in its object, and Sir Walter, 
after losing his son in an action with the Spaniards, returned to 
England, where he was arrested. 

James was now wholly bent on effecting a match between his 
son, Prince Charles, afterwards Charles the First, and the Spanish 
Infanta, and to gratify the Court of Spain and his own malignity, 
he resolved to sacrifice Raleigh. He was condemned, after a 
most eloquent defence, under the old conviction of 1603, notwith- 
standing that he had been recently commissioned commander of 



136 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

a fleet and Governor of Guiana, which had unquestionably an- 
nulled that conviction. " He was condemned (said his son Carew) 
for being a friend of the Spaniards, and lost his life for being 
their bitter enemy." 

Queen Anne, then in declining health, interceded for him, not 
long before his execution, in the following note, addressed to the 
Marquis of Buckingham: — 

"My Kind Dog:— 

"If I have any power or credit with you, in dealing sincerely 

and earnestly with the king, that Sir Walter Raleigh's life may 

not be called in question. If you do it so that the success answer 

my expectation, assure yourself that I will take it extraordinarily 

kindly at your hands, and rest one that wisheth you well, and 

desires you to continue still (as you have been) a true servant to 

your master. 

"ANNE R."* 

Sir Walter Raleigh was executed on the twenty-ninth day of 
October, 1618, in the Old Palace Yard. He died with Christian 
heroism. Distinguished as a navigator and discoverer, a naval 
and military commander, an author in prose and verse, a wit, a 
courtier, a statesman and philosopher, there is perhaps in Eng- 
lish history no name associated with such lofty and versatile 
genius, so much glorious action, and so much wise reflection. He 
was indeed proud, fond of splendor, of a restless and fiery ambition, 
sometimes unscrupulous. An ardent imagination, excited by the 
enthusiasm of an extraordinary age, infused an extravagance and 
marvellousness into some of his relations of his voyages and dis- 
coveries, that gave some occasion for distrust. The ardor of his 
temperament and an over-excited imagination involved him in 
several projects that terminated unhappily. But with his weak- 
nesses and his faults he united noble virtues, and Virginia will 
ever be proud of so illustrious a founder. f 



* Miss Strickland's Lives of Queens of England, vii. 357. 

f Oldy's Life of Raleigh, 74; Belknap, i. art, Raleigh, 289, 370; "A Brief 
Relation of Sir Walter Raleigh's Troubles," Harleian Mis., No. 100. There are 
also lives of Raleigh by Birch, Cayley, Southey, and Mrs. Thompson. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 137 

The Queen Anne, of Denmark, who had in vain employed her 
kind offices in his behalf, did not long survive him; she died in 
March, 1619. Without any extraordinary qualities, she was ac- 
complished, distinguished for the easy elegance of her manners, 
amiable, and the generous friend of the oppressed and unfortu- 
nate. 



CHAPTER XL 



Sir Edwin Sandys, Treasurer of London Company — Powell, Deputy Governor — 
Sir George Yeardley, Governor — First Assembly meets — Its Proceedings. 

Sir Thomas Smtih, Treasurer or Governor of the Virginia 
Company, was displaced in 1618, and succeeded by Sir Edwin 
Sandys.* This enlightened statesman and exemplary man was 
born in Worcestershire, in 1561, being the second son of the 
Archbishop of York. Educated at Oxford under the care of 
"the judicious Hooker," he obtained a prebend in the church of 
York. He afterwards travelled in foreign countries, and pub- 
lished his observations in a work entitled "Europre Speculum, 
or a View of the State of Religion in the "Western World." He 
resigned his prebend in 1602, was subsequently knighted by 
James, in 1603, and employed in diplomatic trusts. His appoint- 
ment as treasurer gave great satisfaction to the colony; for free 
principles were now, under his auspices, in the ascendant. His 
name is spelt sometimes Sandis, sometimes Sands. Sir Thomas 
Smith was shortly after reappointed, by the Virginia Company, 
President of the Somers Islands. 

When Argall, in April, stole away from Virginia, he left for 
his deputy, Captain Nathaniel Powell, f who had come over with 
Captain Smith in 1607, and had evinced courage and discretion. 
He was one of the writers from whose narratives Smith compiled 
his General History. Powell held his office only about ten days, 
when Sir George Yeardley, recently knighted, arrived as Go- 
vernor-General, bringing with him new charters for the colony. 
He added to the council Captain Francis West, Captain Nathaniel 



* Court and Times of James the First, i. 161. f A Welsh name. 

(138) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 139 

Powell, John Rolfe, William Wickham, and Samuel Macock.* 
John Rolfe, who had been secretary, now lost his place, probably 
owing to his connivance at Argall's malepractices, and was suc- 
ceeded by John Pory. He was educated at Cambridge, where he 
took the degree of Master of Arts, in April, 1610. It is sup- 
posed that he was a member of the House of Commons. He was 
much of a traveller, and was at Venice in 1613, at Amsterdam 
in 1617, and shortly after at Paris. By the Earl of Warwick's 
influence he now procured the place of Secretary for the Colony 
of Virginia, having come over in April, 1619, with Sir George 
Yeardley, who appointed him one of his council. 

In June, Governor Yeardley summoned the first legislative 
assembly that ever met in America. It assembled at James City 
or Jamestown, on Friday, the 30th of July, 1619, upwards of 
a year before the Mayflower left England with the Pilgrims. A 
record of the proceedings is preserved in the London State Paper 
Office, in the form of a Report from the Speaker, John Pory.f 

John Pory, Secretary of the Colony, was chosen Speaker, and 
John Twine, Clerk. The Assembly sate in the choir of the 
church, the members of the council sitting on either side of the 
Governor, and the Speaker right before him, the Clerk next the 
Speaker, and Thomas Pierse, the Sergeant, standing at the bar. 



* Macocks, the seat on James River, opposite to Berkley, was called after this 
planter, who was the first proprietor. 

| This interesting document, discovered by Mr. Bancroft, was published by the 
New York Historical Society in 1857, and a number of copies were sent to Rich- 
mond by George Henry Moore, Esq., Secretary of that Society, for distribution 
among the members of the Assembly. The attention of Virginians was first 
drawn to the existence of this document by Conway Robinson, Esq., Chairman 
of the Executive Committee of the Virginia Historical Society. 

The number of burgesses was twenty-two. For James City, Captain William 
Powell, Ensign William Spense; for Charles City, Samuel Sharpe and Samuel 
Jordan: for the City of Henricus, Thomas Dowse, John Polentine; for Kiccow- 
tan, Captain AVilliam Tucker, William Capp; for Martin- Brandon, Captain John 
Martin's Plantation, Mr. Thomas Davis, Mr. Robert Stacy; for Smythe's Hun- 
dred, Captain Thomas Graves, Mr. Walter Shelley; for Martin's Hundred, Mr. 
John Boys, John Jackson; for Argall's Gift, Mr. Pawlett, Mr. Gourgainy; for 
Flowerdieu Hundred, Ensign Rossingham, Mr. Jefferson; for Captain Lawne's 
Plantation, Captain Christopher Lawne, Ensign Washer; for Captain Ward's 
Plantation, Captain Ward, Lieutenant Gibbes. 



140 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Before commencing business, prayer was said by Mr. Bucke, 
the minister. Each burgess then, as called on, took the oath of 
supremacy. When the name of Captain Ward was called, the 
Speaker objected to him as having seated himself on land without 
authority. Objection was also made to the burgesses appearing 
to represent Captain Martin's patent, because they were, by its 
terms, exempted from any obligation to obey the laws of the co- 
lony. Complaint was made by Opochancano, that corn had been 
forcibly taken from some of his people in the Chesapeake, by 
Ensign Harrison, commanding a shallop belonging to this Captain 
John Martin, "Master of the Ordinance." The Speaker read 
the commission for establishing the Council of State and the 
General Assembly, and also the charter brought out by Sir 
Thomas Yeardley. This last was referred to several committees for 
examination, so that if they should find anything "not perfectly 
squaring with the state of the colony, or any law pressing or 
binding too hard," they might by petition seek to have it re- 
dressed, "especially because this great charter is to bind us and 
our heirs forever." Mr. Abraham Persey was the Cape-mer- 
chant. The price at which he Avas to receive tobacco, "either for 
commodities or upon bills," was fixed at three shillings for the 
best and eighteen pence for the second rate. After inquiry the 
burgesses from Martin's patent were excluded, and the Assembly 
"humbly demanded" of the Virginia Company an explanation 
of that clause in his patent entitling him to enjoy his lands as 
amply as any lord of a manor in England, adding, "the least the 
Assembly can allege against this clause is, that it is obscure, and 
that it is a thing impossible for us here to know the prerogatives 
of all the manors in England." And they prayed that the clause 
in the charter guaranteeing equal liberties and immunities to 
grantees, might not be violated, so as to "divert out of the true 
course the free and public current of justice." Thus did the 
first Assembly of Virginia insist upon the principle of the De- 
claration of Rights of 1776, that "no man or set of men are 
entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from 
the community, but in consideration of public services." Certain 
of the instructions sent out from England were "drawn into 
laws" for protection of the Indians from injury, and regulating 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 141 

intercourse with them, and educating their children, and prepar- 
ing some of the most promising boys "for the college intended 
for them; that from thence they may be sent to that work of 
conversion;" for regulating agriculture, tobacco, and sassafras, 
then the chief merchantable commodities raised. Upon Cap- 
tain Powell's petition, "a lewd and treacherous servant of his" 
was sentenced to stand for four days with his ears nailed to 
the pillory, and be whipped each day. John Rolfe complained 
that Captain Martin had made unjust charges against him, and 
cast "some aspersion upon the present government, which is the 
most temperate and just that ever was in this country — too mild, 
indeed, for many of this colony, whom unwonted liberty hath 
made insolent, and not to know themselves." On the last day 
of the session were enacted such laws as issued "out of every 
man's private conceit." "It shall be free for every man to trade 
with the Indians, servants only excepted upon pain of whipping, 
unless the master will redeem it off with the payment of an 
angel." "No man to sell or give any of the greater hoes to the 
Indians, or any English dog of quality, as a mastiff, greyhound, 
bloodhound, land or water spaniel." Any man selling arms or 
ammunition to the Indians, to be hanged so soon as the fact is 
proved. All ministers shall duly "read divine service, and exercise 
their ministerial function according to the ecclesiastical laws and 
orders of the Church of England, and every Sunday, in the 
afternoon, shall catechise such as are not ripe to come to the 
communion." All persons going up or down the James River 
were to touch at James City, "to know whether the governor will 
command them any service." "All persons whatsoever, upon the 
Sabbath days, shall frequent divine service and sermons, both 
forenoon and afternoon; and all such as bear arms shall bring 
their pieces, swords, powder, and shot." 

Captain Henry Spellman, charged by Robert Poole, inter- 
preter, with speaking ill of the governor "at Opochancano's 
court," was degraded from his rank of captain, and condemned 
to serve the colony for seven years as interpreter to the governor. 
Paspaheigh, embracing three hundred acres of land, was also 
called Argallstown, and was part of the tract appropriated to the 
governor. To compensate the speaker, clerk, sergeant, and pro- 



142 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

vost marshal, a pound of the best tobacco was levied from every 
male above sixteen years of age. The Assembly prayed that the 
treasurer, council, and company would not "take it in ill part if 
these laws, which we have now brought to light, do pass current, 
and be of force till such time as we may know their further plea- 
sure out of England; for otherwise this people (who now at length 
have got their reins of former servitude into their own swindge) 
would, in short time, grow so insolent as they would shake off all 
government, and there would be no living among them." They 
also prayed the company to "give us power to allow or disallow 
of their orders of court, as his majesty hath given them power to 
allow or reject our laws." So early did it appear, that from the 
necessity of the case, the colony must in large part legislate for 
itself, and so early did a spirit of independence manifest itself. 
Owing to the heat of the weather, several of the burgesses fell 
sick, and one died, and thus the governor was obliged abruptly, 
on the fourth of August, to prorogue the Assembly till the first 
of March.* There being as yet no counties laid off, the repre- 
sentatives were elected from the several towns, plantations, and 
hundreds, styled boroughs, and hence they were called burgesses. 



* Proceedings of the First Assembly of Virginia, in 1619. 



CHAPTER XII. 

1619-1631. 

The New Laws — Yeardley, Governor — Affairs of the Colony — Landing of the 
Pilgrims at Plymouth — Negroes Imported into Virginia — Supplies sent out 
from England — Wives for the Colonists — The Bishops directed to take up Col- 
lections for aid of the Colony in erecting Churches and Schools — England 
claims a Monopoly of Virginia Tobacco — Charitable Donations. 

Thus after eleven years of suffering, peril, discord, and tyranny, 
intermingled with romantic adventure, bold enterprise, the dignity 
of danger, virtuous fortitude, and generous heroism, were at 
length established a local legislature and a regular administration 
of right. The Virginia planters expressed their gratitude to the 
company, and begged them to reduce into a compend, with his 
majesty's approbation, such of the laws of England as were ap- 
plicable to Virginia, with suitable additions, "because it was not 
fit that his subjects should be governed by any other rules than 
such as received their influence from him." The acts of the As- 
sembly were transmitted to England for the approval of the 
treasurer and company. They were thought to have been very 
judiciously framed, but the company's committee found them 
"exceeding intricate and full of labor." There was granted to 
the old planters an exemption from all compulsive service to the 
colony, with a confirmation of their estates, which were to be 
holden as by English subjects. 

It is remarkable, that from about 1614, for some seven years, 
James the First had governed England without a parliament; 
and the Virginia Company was during this period a rallying point 
for the friends of civil and religious freedom, and the colony en- 
joyed the privilege, denied to the mother country, of holding a 
legislative assembly. 

Yeardley finding a scarcity of corn, undertook to promote the 
cultivation of it, and this year was blessed with abundant crops 
of grain. But an extraordinary mortality carried off not less 

(143) 



144 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

than three hundred of the people. Three thousand acres of land 
were allotted to the governor, and twelve thousand to the com- 
pany. The Margaret, of Bristol, arrived with some settlers, and 
"also many devout gifts." The Trial brought a cargo of corn 
and cattle. The expenditure of the Virginia Company at this 
period, on account of the colony, was estimated at between four 
and five thousand pounds a year. 

A body of English Puritans, persecuted on account of their 
nonconformity, had, in 1G08, sought an asylum in Holland. In 
1017 they conceived the design of removing to America, and in 
1619 they obtained from the Virginia Company, by the influence 
of Sir Edward Sandys, the treasurer, "a large patent," author- 
izing them to settle in Virginia. They embarked in the latter 
part of the year 1620, in the Mayflower, intending to settle some- 
where near the Hudson River, which lay within the Virginia 
Company's territory. The Pilgrims" were, however, conducted to 
the bleak and barren coast of Massachusetts, where they landed 
on the twenty-second day of December, (new style,) 1620, on the 
rock of Plymouth. Thus, thirteen years after the settlement of 
Jamestown, was laid the foundation of the New England States. 
The place of their landing was beyond the limits of the Virginia 
Company. 

In the month of August, 1619, a Dutch man-of-war visited 
Jamestown and sold the settlers twenty negroes, the first intro- 
duced into Virginia. Some time before this, Captain Argall sent 
out, at the expense of. the Earl of Warwick, on a "filibustering" 
cruise to the West Indies, a ship called the Treasurer, manned 
"with the ablest men in the colony," under an old commission 
from the Duke of Savoy against the Spanish dominions in the 
western hemisphere. She returned to Virginia after some ten 
months, with her booty, which consisted of captured negroes, who 
were not left in Virginia, because Captain Argall had gone back 
to England, but were put on the Earl of Warwick's plantation in 
the Somer Islands.* 



* Belknap, art. Argall, citing Declaration of Va. Council, 1023, and Burk's 
Hist, of Va., i. 310; Smith, ii. 39, where Rolfe gives the true date, 1G19; Stith, 
171; Beverley, 3. i. 37; Chalmers' Annals, 4'J; Burk, i. 211, and Hening, i. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 145 

It is probable that the planters who purchased the negroes 
from the Dutch man-of-war reasoned but little on the morality 
of the act, or if any scruples of conscience presented themselves, 
they could be readily silenced by reflecting that the negroes were 
heathens, descendants of Ham, and consigned by Divine appoint- 
ment to perpetual bondage.* The planters may, if they reasoned 
at all on the subject, have supposed that they were even perform- 
ing a humane act in releasing these Africans from the noisome 
hold of the ship. They might well believe that the condition of 
the negro slave would be less degraded and wretched in Virginia 
than it had been in their native country. This first purchase 
was probably not looked upon as a matter of much consequence, 
and for several ages the increase of the blacks in Virginia was so 
inconsiderable as not to attract any special attention. The con- 
dition of the white servants of the colony, many of them convicts, 
was so abject, that men, accustomed to see their own race in 
bondage, could look with more indifference at the worse condition 
of the slaves. 

The negroes purchased by the slavers on the coast of Africa 
were brought from the interior, convicts sold into slavery, chil- 
dren sold by heathen parents destitute of natural affection, kid- 
napped villagers, and captives taken in war, the greater part of 
them born in hereditary bondage. The circumstances under 
which they were consigned to the slave-ship evince the wretched- 
ness of their condition in their native country, where they were 
the victims of idolatry, barbarism, and war. The negroes im- 
ported were usually between the ages of fourteen and thirty, two- 
thirds of them being males. The new negro, just transferred 
from the wilds of a distant continent, was indolent, ignorant of 
the modes and implements of labor, and of the language of his 
master, and perhaps of his fellow-laborers. f To tame and domes- 
ticate, to instruct in the modes of industry, and to reduce to 



146, all (as Bancroft, i. 177, remarks,) rely on Beverley. It maybe added, that 
they were all misled by him in making the date 1620. I was enabled to rectify 
this date by an intimation from the Rev. Dr. Wm. H. Foote, author of "Sketches 
of Virginia." 

* Burk, i. 211. f Bancroft, iii. 402. 

10 



146 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

subordination and usefulness a barbarian, gross, obtuse, perverse, 
must have demanded persevering efforts and severe discipline. 

While the cruel slave-trade was prompted by a remorseless 
cupidity, an inscrutable Providence turned the wickedness of 
men into the means of bringing about beneficent results. The 
system of slavery, doubtless, entailed many evils on slave and 
slave-holder, and, perhaps, the greater on the latter. These 
evils are the tax paid for the elevation of the negro from his 
aboriginal condition. 

Among the vessels that came over to Virginia from England, 
about this time, is mentioned a bark of five tons. A fleet sent 
out by the Virginia Company brought over, in 1619, more than 
twelve hundred settlers.* The planters at length enjoyed the 
blessings of property in the soil, and the society of women. The 
wives were sold to the colonists for one hundred and twenty 
pounds of tobacco, and it was ordered that this debt should have 
precedence of all others. The price of a wife afterwards became 
higher. The bishops in England, by the king's orders, collected 
nearly fifteen hundred pounds to build a college or university at 
Henrico, intended in part for the education of Indian children.f 



* They were disposed of in the following way : eighty tenants for the gover- 
nor's land, one hundred and thirty for the company's land, one hundred for the 
college, fifty for the glebe, ninety young women of good character for wives, 
fifty servants, fifty whose labors were to support thirty Indian children ; the rest 
were distributed among private plantations. 

f The following is a copy of the letter addressed by the king on this occasion 
to the archbishops, authorizing them to invite the members of the church 
throughout the kingdom to assist in the establishment of the college, and such 
works of piety. The exact date of the letter has not been ascertained; but it 
was about the year 1620. It has never been published until recently, and is the 
first document of the kind ever issued in England for the benefit of the colonies. 
It is as follows: — 

"Most reverend father in God, right, trusty, and well-beloved counsellor, we 
greet you well. You have heard ere this time of the attempt of divers worthy 
men, our subjects, to plant in Virginia, (under the warrant of our letters pa- 
tents,) people of this kingdom as well as for the enlarging of our dominions, as 
for the propagation of the gospel amongst infidels: wherein there is good pro- 
gress made and hope of further increase; so as the undertakers of that planta- 
tion are now in hand with the erecting of some churches and schools for the 
education of the children of those barbarians, which cannot but be to them a 
very great charge and above the expense which, for the civil plantation, doth 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 147 

In July, 1620, the population of the colony was estimated at 
four thousand. One hundred " disorderly persons" or convicts, sent 
over during the previous year by the king's order, were employed 
as servants.* For a brief interval the Virginia Company had 
enjoyed freedom of trade with the Low Countries, where they 
sold their tobacco; but in October, 1621, this was prohibited by 
an order in council; and from this time England claimed a mono- 
poly of the trade of her plantations, and this principle was gra- 
dually adopted by all the European powers as they acquired 
transatlantic settlements. f 



come to them. In which we doubt not but that you and all others who wish well 
to the increase of Christian religion, will be willing to give all assistance and 
furtherance, you may, and therein to make experience of the zeal and devotion 
of our well-minded subjects, especially those of the clergy. Wherefore we do 
require you, and hereby authorize you to write your letters to the several bishops 
of the dioceses in your province, that they do give order to the ministers and 
other zealous men of their dioceses, both by their own example in contribution 
and by exhortation to others to move our people within their several charges to 
contribute to so good a work, in as liberal a manner as they may ; for the better 
advancing whereof our pleasure is, that those collections be made in all the parti- 
cular parishes, four several times within these two years next coming; and that the 
several accounts of each parish, together with the moneys collected, be returned 
from time to time to the bishops of the dioceses, and by them be transmitted 
half yearly to you; and so to be delivered to the treasurer of that plantation to be 
employed for the godly purposes intended, and no other." (Anderson's Hist, of 
Col. Church, i. 315; Stith's Mist, of Va., 159.) 

* Mr. Jefferson appears to have fallen into a mistake as to the period of time 
when malefactors were first shipped over to this country from England, for he 
says: " It was at a late period of their history that the practice began." ( Writ- 
ings of Jefferson, i. 405.) 

■j- Chalmers' Introduc, i. 15. The following letter accompanied a shipment ot 
marriageable females sent out from England to Virginia: — 

"London, August 21, 1621. 

"We send you a shipment, one widow and eleven maids, for wives of the people 
of Virginia : there hath been especial care had in the choice of them, for there 
hath not one of them been received but upon good commendations. 

" In case they cannot be presently married, we desire that they may be put 
with several householders that have wives, until they can be provided with hus- 
bands. There are nearly fifty more that are shortly to come, and are sent by 
our honorable lord and treasurer, the Earl of Southampton, and certain worthy 
gentlemen, who, taking into consideration that the plantation can never flourish 
till families be planted, and the respect of wives and children for their people on 
the soil, therefore having given this fair beginning; reimbursing of whose 



148 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

Two persons unknown presented plate and ornaments for the 
communion-table at the college, and at Mrs. Mary Robinson's 
Church, so called because she had contributed two hundred pounds 
toward the founding of it. Another person unknown gave five 
hundred and fifty pounds for the education of Indian children in 
Christianity; he subscribed himself "Dust and Ashes;" and was 
afterwards discovered to be Mr. Gabriel Barber, a member of the 
company. 

charges it is ordered that every man that marries them, give one hundred and 
twenty pounds of best leaf tobacco for each of them. 

"We desire that the marriage be free according to nature, and we would not 
have those maids deceived and married to servants, but only to such freemen or 
tenants as have means to maintain them. We pray you, therefore, to be fathers 
of them in this business, not enforcing them to marry against their wills." 
(Hubbard' $ note in Belknap, art. Akgall.) 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Proceedings in London of Virginia Company — Lord Southampton elected Trea- 
surer — Sir Francis Wyat appointed Governor — New frame of Government — 
Instructions for Governor and Council — George Sandys, Treasurer in Virginia 
— Notice of his Life and published Works — Productions of the Colony. 

Sir Edwin Sandys held the office of treasurer of the com- 
pany but for one year, being excluded from a re-election by 
the arbitrary interference of the king. The election was by 
ballot. The day for it having arrived, the company met, con- 
sisting of twenty peers of the realm, near one hundred knights, 
together with as many more of gallant officers and grave lawyers, 
and a large number of worthy citizens — an imposing array of 
rank, and wealth, and talents, and influence. Sir Edwin Sandys 
being first nominated as a candidate, a lord of the bedchamber 
and another courtier announced that it was the king's pleasure 
not to have Sir Edwin Sandys chosen; and because he was un- 
willing to infringe their right of election, he (the king) would 
nominate three persons, and permit the company to choose one 
of them. The company, nevertheless, voted to proceed to an 
election, as they had a right to do under the charter. Sir Edwin 
Sandys withdrew his name from nomination, and, at his sugges- 
tion it was finally agreed that the king's messengers should name 
two candidates, and the company one. Upon counting the bal- 
lots, it was ascertained that one of the royal candidates received 
only one vote, and the other only two. The Earl of Southampton 
received all the rest. 

The Virginia Company was divided into two parties, the mi- 
nority enjoying the favor of the king, and headed by the Earl of 
Warwick; the other, the liberal, or opposition, or reform party, 
headed by the Earl of Southampton. The Warwick faction were 
greatly embittered against Yeardley, and their virulence was 
increased by his having intercepted a packet from his own secre- 
tary, Pory, containing proofs of Argall's misconduct, to be used 

(14!)) 



150 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

against him at his trial, which the secretary had been bribed by 
his friend, the Earl of Warwick, to convey to him. The mild and 
gentle Yeardley, overcome by these annoyances, at length re- 
quested leave to retire from the cares of office. His commission 
expired in November, 1621 ; but he continued in the colony, was 
a member of the council, and enjoyed the respect and esteem of 
the people. During his short administration, many new settle- 
ments were made on the James and York rivers; and the planters, 
being now supplied with wives and servants, began to be more 
content, and to take more pleasure in cultivating their lands. 
The brief interval of free trade with Holland had enlarged the 
demand for tobacco, and it was cultivated more extensively. 

Sir George Yearclley's term of office having expired, the com- 
pany's council, upon the recommendation of the Earl of South- 
ampton, appointed Sir Francis Wyat governor, a young gentle- 
man of Ireland, whose education, family, fortune, and integrity, 
well qualified him for the place. He arrived in October, 1621, 
with a fleet of nine sail, and brought over a new frame of govern- 
ment constituted by the company, and dated July the 24th, 
1621, establishing a council of State and a general assembly 
— vesting the governor with a negative upon the acts of the 
assembly; this body to be convoked by him in general once a 
year, and to consist of the council of State and of two burgesses 
from every town, hundred, or plantation; the trial by jury se- 
cured; no act of the assembly to be valid unless ratified by the 
company in England; and, on the other hand, no order of the 
company to be obligatory upon the colony without the consent of 
the assembly. This last feature displays that spirit of constitu- 
tional freedom which then pervaded the Virginia Company. A 
commission bearing the same date with the new frame of govern- 
ment recognized Sir Francis Wyat as the first governor under 
it; and this famous ordinance became the model of every subse- 
quent provincial form of government in the Anglo-American 
colonies.* 

* Chalmers' Introduc, i. 13-16; Belknap, art. Sib, Francis AVtat. Belknap 
is an excellent authority, as accurate as Stith without his diffuseness; and Hub- 
bard's notes are worthy of the text. The ordinance and commission may be 
seen in Hening's Statutes at Large, i. 110-113. 



HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 151 

Wyat brought with him also a body of instructions intended 
for the permanent guidance of the governor and council. He 
was to provide for the service of God in conformity with the 
Church of England as near as maybe; to be obedient to the 
king, and to administer justice according to the laws of England ; 
not to injure the natives, and to forget old quarrels now buried ; 
to be industrious, and to suppress drunkenness, gaming, and ex- 
cess in clothes; not to permit any but the council and heads of 
hundreds to wear gold in their clothes, or to wear silk, till they 
make it themselves ; not to offend any foreign prince ; to punish 
pirates; to build forts; to endeavor to convert the heathen; and 
each town to teach some of the Indian children fit for the college 
which was to be built ; to cultivate corn, wine, and silk ; to search 
for minerals, dyes, gums, and medicinal drugs, and to draw off 
the people from the excessive planting of tobacco; to take a 
census of the colony ; to put 'prentices to trades and not let them 
forsake them for planting tobacco, or any such useless commo- 
dity; to build water-mills; to make salt, pitch, tar, soap, and 
ashes; to make oil of walnuts, and employ apothecaries in dis- 
tilling lees of beer; to make small quantity of tobacco, and that 
very good. 

Wyat, entering on the duties of his office on the eighteenth of 
November, dispatched Mr. Thorpe to renew the treaties of peace 
and friendship with Opechancanough, who was found apparently 
well affected and ready to confirm the pledges of harmony. A 
vessel from Ireland brought in eighty immigrants, who planted 
themselves at Newport's News. The company sent out during 
this year twenty-one vessels, navigated with upwards of four hun- 
dred sailors, and bringing over thirteen hundred men, women, 
and children. The aggregate number of settlers that arrived 
during 1621 and 1622 Avas three thousand five hundred. 

With Sir Francis Wyat came over George Sandys, treasurer 
in Virginia, brother of Sir Edwin Sandys, treasurer of the com- 
pany in England. George Sandys, who was born in 1577, after 
passing some time at Oxford, in 1610, travelled over Europe to 
Turkey, and visited Palestine and Egypt. He published his 
travels, at Oxford, in 1615, and they were received with great 



152 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

favor. The first poetical production in Anglo-American litera- 
ture was composed by him, while secretary of the colony ; and in 
the midst of the confusion which followed the massacre of 1622, — 
"by that imperfect light which was snatched from the hours of 
night and repose," — he translated the Metamorphoses of Ovid 
and the First Book of Virgil's iEneid, which was published in 
1626, and dedicated to King Charles the First. He also pub- 
lished several other works, and enjoyed the favor of the literary 
men of the day. Dryden pronounced Sandys the best versifier 
of his age. Pope declared that English poetry owed much of its 
beauty to his translations; and Montgomery, the poet, renders 
his meed of praise to the beauty of the Psalms translated by him. 
Having lived chiefly in retirement, he died in 1643, at the house 
of Sir Francis Wyat, in Bexley, Kent. A fine copy of the trans- 
lation of Ovid and Virgil, printed in 1632, in folio, elegantly 
illustrated, once the property of the Duke of Sussex, is now in 
the library of Mr. Grigsby. Mr. Thomas H. Wynne, of Kich- 
mond, also has a copy of this rare work. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Use of Tobacco in England— Raleigh's Habits of Smoking — His Tobacco-box — 
Anecdotes of Smoking — King James, his Counterblast — Denunciations against 
Tobacco — Amount of Tobacco Imported. 

In 1615 twelve different commodities had been shipped from 
Virginia; sassafras and tobacco were now the only exports. 
During the year 1619 the company in England imported twenty 
thousand pounds of tobacco, the entire crop of the preceding 
year. James the First endeavored to draw a "prerogative" 
revenue from what he termed a pernicious weed, and against 
which he had published his " Counterblast;" but he was restrained,,^ 
from this illegal measure by a resolution of the House of Com- 
mons. In 1607 he sent a letter forbidding the use of tobacco at 
St. Mary's College, Cambridge. 

Smoking was the first mode of using tobacco in England, and 
when Sir Walter Raleigh first introduced the custom among 
people of fashion, in order to escape observation he smoked pri- 
vately in his house, (at Islington,) the remains of which were till 
of late years to be seen, as an inn, long known as the Pied Bull. 
This was the first house in England in which it was smoked, and 
Raleigh had his arms emblazoned there, with a tobacco-plant on 
the top. There existed also another tradition in the Parish of 
St. Matthew, Friday Street, London, that Raleigh was accus- 
tomed to sit smoking at his door in company with Sir Hugh Mid- 
dleton. Sir Walter's guests were entertained with pipes, a mug 
of ale, and a nutmeg, and on these occasions he made use of his 
tobacco-box, which was of cylindrical form, seven inches in 
diameter and thirteen inches long; the outside of gilt leather, and 
within a receiver of glass or metal, which held about a pound of 
tobacco. A kind of collar connected the receiver with the case, 
and on every side the box was pierced with holes for the pipes. 
This relic was preserved in the museum of Ralph Thoresby, of 

(153) 



154 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Leeds, in 1719, and about 1843 was added, by the late Duke of 
Sussex, to his collection of the smoking utensils of all nations.* 

Although Sir Walter Raleigh first introduced the custom of 
smoking tobacco in England, yet its use appears to have been not 
entirely unknown before, for one Kemble, condemned for heresy 
in the time of Queen Mary the Bloody, while walking to the stake 
smoked a pipe of tobacco. Hence the last pipe that one smokes 
was called the Kemble pipe. 

The writer of a pamphlet, supposed to have been Milton's 
father, describes many of the play-books and pamphlets of that 
day, 1609, as "conceived over night by idle brains, impregnated 
with tobacco smoke and mulled sack, and brought forth by the 
help of midwifery of a caudle next morning." At the theatres in 
Shakespeare's time, the spectators were allowed to sit on the 
stage, and to be attended by pages, who furnished them with 
pipes and tobacco. 

About the time of the settlement of Jamestown, in 1607, the 
characteristics of a man of fashion were, to wear velvet breeches, 
with panes or slashes of silk, an enormous starched ruff, a gilt- 
handled sword, and a Spanish dagger; to play at cards or dice 
in the chamber of the groom-porter, and to smoke tobacco in the 
tilt-yard, or at the playhouse. 

The peers engaged in the trial of the Earls of Essex and 
Southampton smoked much while they deliberated on their ver- 
dict. It was alleged against Sir Walter Raleigh that he used 
tobacco on the occasion of the execution of the Earl of Essex, in 
contempt of him; and it was perhaps in allusion to this circum- 
stance that when Raleigh was passing through London to Win- 
chester, to stand his trial, he was followed by the execrations of 
the populace, and pelted with tobacco-pipes, stones, and mud. 
On the scaffold, however, he protested that during the execution 
of Essex he had retired far off into the armory, where Essex 
could not see him, although he saw Essex, and shed tears for 
him. Raleigh used tobacco on the morning of his own execution. 

As early as the year 1610 tobacco was in general use in Eng- 

* Introduction to "A Counterblast to Tobacco, by James the First, King of 
England," published at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1843. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 155 

land. The manner of using it was partly to inhale the smoke 
and blow it out through the nostrils, and this was called "drink- 
ing tobacco," and this practice continued until the latter part of 
the reign of James the First. In 1614 the number of tobacco- 
houses in or near London was estimated at seven thousand. In 
1620 was chartered the Society of Tobacco-pipe Makers of Lon- 
don; they bore on their shield a tobacco-plant in full blossom. 

The "Counterblast against Tobacco," attributed to James the 
First, if in some parts absurd and puerile, yet is not without a 
good deal of just reasoning and good sense; some fair hits are 
made in it, and those who have ridiculed that production might 
find it not easy to controvert some of its views. King James, in 
his Counterblast, does not omit the opportunity of expressing his 
hatred toward Sir Walter Raleigh, in terms worthy of that des- 
picable monarch. He continued his opposition to tobacco as 
long as he lived, and in his ordinary conversation oftentimes 
argued and inveighed against it. 

The Virginia tobacco in early times was imported into England 
in the leaf, in bundles, as at present ; the Spanish or West Indian 
tobacco in balls. Molasses or other liquid preparation was used 
in preparing those balls. Tobacco was then, as now, adulterated 
in various ways. The nice retailer kept it in what were called 
lily-pots, that is, white jars. The tobacco was cut on a maple 
block ; juniper-wood, which retains fire well, was used for light- 
ing pipes, and among the rich silver tongs were employed for 
taking up a coal of it. Tobacco was sometimes called the Ameri- 
can Silver Weed. 

The Turkish Vizier thrust pipes through the noses of smokers ; 
and the Shah of Persia cropped the ears and slit the noses of 
those who made use of the fascinating leaf. The Counterblast 
says of it: "And for the vanity committed in this filthy custom, 
is it not both great vanity and uncleanness, that at the table — a 
place of respect of cleanliness, of modesty — men should not be 
ashamed to sit tossing of tobacco-pipes and puffing of smoke, one 
at another, making the filthy smoke and stink thereof to exhale 
athwart the dishes, and infect the air, when very often men who 
abhor it are at their repast? Surely smoke becomes a kitchen 
far better than a dining- chamber; and yet it makes the kitchen 



156 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

oftentimes in the inward parts of man, soiling and infecting them 
with an unctuous and oily kind of soot, as hath been found in 
some great tobacco-takers that after their deaths were opened." 

"A Counterblast to Tobacco," by James the First, King of 
England, was first printed in quarto, without name or date, at 
London, 1616. In the frontispiece was engraved the tobacco- 
smoker's coat of arms, consisting of a blackamoor's head, cross- 
pipes, cross-bones, death's-head, etc. It is not improbable that 
it was intended to foment the popular prejudice against Sir 
Walter Raleigh, who first introduced the use of tobacco into Eng- 
land, and who was put to death in the same year, 1616. King 
James alludes to the introduction of the use of tobacco and of 
Raleigh as follows: "It is not so long since the first entry of 
this abuse among us here, as that this present age cannot very 
well remember both the first author and the form of the first in- 
troduction of it among us. It was neither brought in by king, 
great conqueror, nor learned doctor of physic. With the report 
of a great discovery for a conquest, some two or three savage 
men were brought in together with this savage custom; but the 
pity is, the poor wild barbarous men died, but that vile barbarous 
custom is still alive, yea, in fresh vigor ; so as it seems a miracle 
to me how a custom springing from so vile a ground, and brought 
in by a father so generally hated, should be welcomed upon 
so slender a warrant." 

The king thus reasons against the Virginia staple: "Secondly, 
it is, as you use or rather abuse it, a branch of the sin of drunken- 
ness, which is the root of all sins,* for as the only delight that 
drunkards love any weak or sweet drink, so are not those (I mean 
the strong heat and fume) the only qualities that make tobacco 
so delectable to all the lovers of it ? And as no man loves strong 
heavy drinks the first day, (because nemo repente fuit turpissi- 
mus,) but by custom is piece and piece allured, while in the end 
a drunkard will have as great a thirst to be drunk as a sober man 
to quench his thirst with a draught when he hath need of it ; so 
is not this the true case of all the great takers of tobacco, which 
therefore they themselves do attribute to a bewitching quality in 

* And one from which the king himself was not free. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 157 

it ? Thirdly, is it not the greatest sin of all that you, the people 
of all sorts of this kingdom, who are created and ordained by 
God to bestow both your persons and goods for the maintenance 
both of the honor and safety of your king and commonwealth, 
should disable yourself to this shameful imbecility, that you are 
not able to ride or walk the journey of a Jew's Sabbath but you 
must have a reeky coal brought you from the next poor-house to 
kindle your tobacco with? whereas he cannot be thought able for 
any service in the wars that cannot endure oftimes the want of 
meat, drink, and sleep; much more then must he endure the 
want of tobacco." A curious tractate on tobacco, by Dr. Tobias 
Venner, was published at London in 1621. The author was a 
graduate of Oxford, and a physician at Bath, and is mentioned 
in the Oxonias Athenienses.* 

The amount of tobacco imported in 1619 into England, from 
Virginia, being the entire crop of the preceding year, was twenty 
thousand pounds. At the end of seventy years there were annu- 
ally imported into England more than fifteen millions of pounds 
of it, from which was derived a revenue of upwards of =£100, 000. f 

In April, 1621, the House of Commons debated whether it was 
expedient to prohibit the importation of tobacco entirely; and 
they determined to exclude all save from Virginia and the Somer 
Isles. It was estimated that the consumption of England 
amounted to one thousand pounds per diem. This seductive 
narcotic leaf, which soothes the mind and quiets its perturba- 
tions, has found its way into all parts of the habitable globe, 
from the sunny tropics to the snowy regions of the frozen 
pole. Its fragrant smoke ascends alike to the blackened rafters 
of the lowly hut, and the gilded ceilings of luxurious wealth. 



* A copy of this rare pamphlet was lent me by N. S. Walker, Esq., of Rich- 
mond. 

f Chalmers, Introduc. to Hist, of Revolt of Amer. Colonies, i. 13. 



CHAPTER XV. 

1621-1633. 

Silk in Virginia — Endowment of East India School — Ministers in Virginia — Ser- 
mon at Bow Church — Corporation of Henrico. 

In November and December, 1621, at an assembly held at 
James City, acts were passed for encouraging the planting of 
mulberry-trees, and tbe making of silk; but this enterprise, so 
early commenced in Virginia, and so earnestly revived of late 
years, is still unsuccessful; and it may be concluded that the 
climate of Virginia is unpropitious to that sort of production. 

The Rev. Mr. Copeland, Chaplain on board of the Royal 
James, East Indiaman, on the return voyage from the East 
Indies, prevailed upon the officers and crew of that ship to con- 
tribute seventy pounds toward the establishment of a church and 
school in Virginia, and Charles City County was selected as the 
site of it, and it was to be called the East India School, and to 
be dependent upon the college at Henrico. The Virginia Com- 
pany allotted one thousand acres of land for the maintenance of 
the master and usher, and presented three hundred acres to Mr. 
Copeland. Workmen were accordingly sent out early in 1622, to 
begin the building. The clergymen in Virginia at this time were 
Messrs. Whitaker, Mease, Wickham, Stockham, and Bargrave.* 

The following is found in the early records: — 

The Corporation of Henrico. 

On the northerly ridge of James River, from the falls down to Henrico, con- 
taining ten miles in length, are the public lands, surveyed and laid out ; whereof, 
ten thousand acres for the university lands, three thousand acres for the com- 
pany's lands, with other lands belonging to the college. The common land for 
that corporation, fifteen hundred acres. 

On the southerly side, beginning from the falls, there are there patented, 
viz. : — 

(158) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIKGINIA. 



159 



Early in 1622 very favorable intelligence from Virginia reached 
England, and upon this occasion, on the seventeenth of April, 
the Rev. Mr. Copeland, by appointment, preached before the Vir- 
ginia Company, at Bow Church. He was shortly afterwards 
appointed a member of the Virginia Council and rector of the 
college established for the conversion of the Indians; but all 
these benevolent purposes and hopeful anticipations were sud- 
denly darkened and defeated by the news of a catastrophe which 
had, in a few hours, blasted the labors of so many years. 



Acres. 
John Petterson 100 

Anthony Edwards 100 

Nathaniel Norton 100 

John Proctor 200 

Thomas Tracy 100 

John A^ithard 100 

Francis Weston 300 

Phettiplace Close 100 

John Price 150 



Acrea. 
Peter Nemenart 110 

William Perry 100 

John Plower 100 

Surveyed for the use of the 

iron-work. 

Edward Hudson 100 

Thomas Morgan 150 

Thomas Sheffield 150 



Cosendale, within the Corporation of Henrico : — 

/Acres. 
Lieut. Edward Barckley 112 

Richard Poulton 100 

Robert Analand 200 

John Griffin 50 



Acres. 
Peter Nemenart 40 

Thomas Tindall 100 

Thomas Reed 100 

John Laydon 200 



CHAPTER XVI. 



The Massacre — Its Origin, Nemattanow — Opechancanough — Security of Colo- 
nists — Perfidy of the Indians — Particulars of Massacre — Its Consequences — 
Brave Defence of some — Supplies sent from England — Captain Smith's Offer. 

On the twenty-second day of March, 1622, there occurred in 
the colony a memorable massacre, which originated, as was be- 
lieved, in the following circumstances: There was among the 
Indians a famous chief, named Nemattanow, or "Jack of the 
Feather," as he was styled by the English, from his fashion of 
decking his hair. He was reckoned by his own people invulner- 
able to the arms of the English. This Nemattenow coming to 
the store of one of the settlers named Morgan, persuaded him to 
go to Pamunkey to trade, and murdered him by the way. Ne- 
mattanow, in two or three days, returned to Morgan's house, 
and finding there two young men, Morgan's servants, who 
inquired for their master, answered them that he was dead. The 
young men, seeing their master's cap on the Indian's head, sus- 
pected the murder, and undertook to conduct him to Mr. Thorpe, 
who then lived at Berkley, on the James River, since well known 
as a seat of the Harrisons, and originally called "Brickley." 
Nemattanow so exasperated the young men on the way that they 
shot him, and he falling, they put him into a boat and conveyed 
him to the governor at Jamestown, distant seven or eight miles. 
The wounded chief in a short time died. Feeling the approaches 
of death, he entreated the young men not to disclose that he had 
been mortally wounded by a bullet: so strong is the desire for 
posthumous fame even in the breast of a wild, untutored savage ! 

Opechancanough, the ferocious Indian chief, agitated with min- 
gled emotions of grief and indignation at the loss of his favorite 
Nemattanow, at first muttered threats of revenge; but the re- 
torted defiance of the English made him for a time smother his 
resentment and dissemble his dark designs under the guise of 
(160) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 161 

friendship. Accordingly, upon Sir Francis Wyat's arrival, all 
suspicion of Indian treachery had died away; the colonists, in 
delusive security, were in general destitute of arms; the planta- 
tions lay dispersed, as caprice suggested, or a rich vein of land 
allured, as far as the Potomac River;* their houses everywhere 
open to the Indians, who fed at their tables and lodged under 
their roofs. About the middle of March, a messenger being sent 
upon some occasion to Opechancanough, he entertained him 
kindly, and protested that he held the peace so firm that "the 
sky should fall before he broke it." On the twentieth of the 
same month, the Indians guided some of the English safely 
through the forest, and the more completely to lull all suspicion, 
they sent one Brown, who w T as sojourning among them for the 
purpose of learning their language, back home to his master. 
They even borrowed boats from the whites to cross the river when 
about holding a council on the meditated attack. The massacre 
took place on Friday, the twenty-second of March, 1622. On 
the evening before, and on that very morning, the Indians, as 
usual, came unarmed into the houses of the unsuspecting colo- 
nists, with fruits, fish, turkeys, and venison for sale : in some places 
they actually sate down to breakfast with the English. At about 
the hour of noon the savages, rising suddenly and everywhere at 
the same time, butchered the colonists with their own implements, 
sparing neither age, nor sex, nor condition ; and thus fell in a few 
hours three hundred and forty-nine men, women, and children. 
The infuriated savages wreaked their vengeance even on the dead, 
dragging and mangling the lifeless bodies, smearing their hands 
in blood, and bearing off the torn and yet palpitating limbs as 
trophies of a brutal triumph. 

Among their victims was Mr. George Thorpe, (a kinsman of Sir 
Thomas Dale,) who had been of the king's bedchamber, deputy 
to the college lands, and one of the principal men of the colony 
— a pious gentleman, who had labored zealously for the conver- 
sion of the Indians, and had treated them with uniform kindness. 
Ad an instance of this, they having at one time expressed their 
fears of the English mastiff dogs, he had caused some of them 



* Beverley, 39. 
11 



162 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

to be put to death, to the great displeasure of their owners. 
Opechancanough inhabiting a paltry cabin, Mr. Thorpe had built 
him a handsome house after the English manner.* But the 
savage miscreants, equally deaf to the voice of humanity and the 
emotions of gratitude, murdered their benefactor with every cir- 
cumstance of remorseless cruelty. He had been forewarned of 
his clanger by a servant, but making no eifort to escape, fell a 
victim to his misplaced confidence. With him ten other persons 
were slain at Berkley. 

Another of the victims was Captain Nathaniel Powell, one of 
the first settlers, a brave soldier, and who had for a brief interval 
filled the place of governor of the colony. His family fell with 
him. Nathaniel Causie, another of Captain Smith's old soldiers, 
when severely wounded and surrounded by the Indians, slew one 
of them with an axe, and put the rest to flight. At Warras- 
queake a colonist named Baldwin, by repeatedly firing his gun, 
saved himself and family, and divers others. The savages at the 
same time made an attempt upon the house of a planter named 
Harrison, (near Baldwin's,) where were Thomas Hamor with 
some men, and a number of women and children. The Indians 
tried to inveigle Hamor out of the house, by pretending that 
Opechancanough was hunting in the neighboring woods and de- 
sired to have his company ; but he not coming out, they set fire to 
a tobacco-house; the men ran toward the fire, and were pursued 
by the Indians, who pierced them with arrows and beat out their 
brains. Hamor having finished a letter that he was writing, and 
suspecting no treachery, went out to see what was the matter, 
when, being wounded in the back with an arrow, he returned to 
the house and barricaded it. Meanwhile Harrison's boy, find- 
ing his master's gun loaded, fired it at random, and the Indians 
fled. Baldwin still continuing to discharge his gun, Hamor, with 
twenty-two others, withdrew to his house, leaving their own in 
flames. Hamor next retired to a new house that he was building, 
and there defending himself with spades, axes, and brickbats, 
escaped the fury of the savages. The master of a vessel lying 



* The chief was so charmed -with it, especially with the lock and key, that he 
locked and unlocked the door a hundred times a day. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 16o 

in the James River sent a file of musqueteers ashore, who re- 
captured from the enemy the Merchant's store-house. In the 
neighborhood of Martin's Hundred seventy-three persons were 
butchered ; yet a small family there escaped, and heard nothing 
of the massacre until two days after. 

Thus fell in so short a space of time one-twelfth part of the 
colonists of Virginia, including six members of the council. The 
destruction might have been universal but for the disclosure of a 
converted Indian, named Chanco, who, during the night preced- 
ing the massacre, revealed the plot to one Richard Pace, with 
whom he lived. Pace, upon receiving this intelligence, after for- 
tifying his own house, repaired before day to Jamestown, and gave 
the alarm to Sir Francis Wyat, the Governor; his vigilance 
saved a large part of the colony from destruction.* Eleven were 
killed at Berkley, fifty at Edward Bonit's plantation, two at 
Westover, five at Macocks, four on Appomattox River, six at 
Flowei -de-Hundred, twenty-one of Sir George Yeardley's people 
at Weyanoke, and seventy-three at Martin's Hundred, seven 
miles from Jamestown. 

The horrors of famine threatened to follow in the train of 
massacre, and the consternation of the survivors was such that 
twenty or thirty days elapsed before any plan of defence was 
concerted. Many were urgent to abandon the James River, and 
take refuge on the eastern shore, where some newly settled plan- 
tations had escaped. At length it was determined to abandon 
the weaker plantations, and to concentrate their surviving popu- 
lation in five or six well fortified places, Shirley, Flower-de-Hun- 
dred, Jamestown, with Paspahey, and the plantations opposite to 
Kiquotan, and Southampton Hundred. In consequence a large 
part of the cattle and effects of the planters fell a prey to the 
enemy. Nevertheless, a planter, "Master Gookins," at New- 
port's News, refused to abandon his plantation, and with thirty- 
five men resolutely held it. 

The family of Gookins is ancient, and appears to have been 
found originally at Canterbury, in Kent, England. The name 



* Purehas, his Pilgrim, iv. 1788; Smith, ii. 65: a list of the slain may be 
found on page 70. 



164 HISTORY OE THE COLONY AND 

has undergone successive changes — Colkin, Cochin, Cockayn, 
Cocyn, Cokain, Cokin, Gockin, Gokin, Gookin, Gookins, Gook- 
ing, and others. The early New England chroniclers spelled it 
" Goggin."* Daniel Gookin removed to County Cork, in Ireland, 
and thence to Virginia, arriving in November, 1621, with fifty 
men of his own and thirty passengers, exceedingly well furnished 
with all sorts of provision and cattle, and planted himself at New- 
port's News. In the massacre he held out with a force of thirty- 
five men against the savages, disregarding the order to retire. 
It is probable that he affected to make a settlement independent 
of the civil power of the colony, and it appears to have been 
styled by his son a "lordship." It was above Newport's News, 
and was called "Mary's Mount. "f 

To return to the incidents of the massacre. Samuel Jordan, 
with the aid of a few refugees, maintained his ground at Beg- 
gar's Bush;! as a ^ so did Mr. Edward Hill, at Elizabeth City. 
"Mrs. Proctor, a proper, civil, modest gentlewoman," defended 
herself and family for a month after the massacre, until at last 
constrained to retire by the English officers, who threatened, if 
she refused, to burn her house down ; which was done by the In- 
dians shortly after her withdrawal. Captain Newce, of Elizabeth 
City, and his wife, distinguished themselves by their liberality to 
the sufferers. Several families escaped to the country afterwards 
known as North Carolina, and settled there. § 

When intelligence of this event reached England, the king 
granted the Virginia Company some unserviceable arms out of 



* Arms. Quarterly : First, gules, a chevron ermine between three cocks or, 
two in chief, one in base, Gookin. Second and third, sable, a cross crosslet, 
ermine. Fourth, or, a lion rampant, gules between six crosses fitchee. Crest. 
On a mural crown, gules, a cock or, beaked and legged azure, combed and 
wattled gu. 

f Article by J. Wingate Thornton, Esq., of Boston, in Mass. Gen. and Antiq. 
Register, vol. for 1847, page 345, referring, among other authorities, to Records 
of General Court of Virginia. 

J Afterwards called and still known as Jordan's Point, in the County of Prince 
George, the seat of the revolutionary patriot Richard Bland. Beggar's Bush, as 
already mentioned, was the title of one of Fletcher's comedies then in vogue in 
England. (Ilallam's Hist, of Literature, ii. 210.) 

\ Martin's Hist, of North Carolina, i. 87. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 165 

the Tower, and "lent them twenty barrels of powder;" Lord St. 
John of Basing gave sixty coats of mail; the privy council sent 
out supplies, and the City of London dispatched one hundred 
settlers.* 

One effect of the massacre was the ruin of the iron-works at 
Falling Creek, on the south side of the James River, (near Ampt- 
hill in the present County of Chesterfield,) where, of twenty-four 
people, only a boy and girl escaped by hiding themselves. f Lead 
was found near these iron-works. King James promised to send 
over four hundred soldiers for the protection of the colony; but 
he never could be induced to fulfil his promise. Captain John 
Smith offered, if the company would send him to Virginia, with 
a small force, to reduce the savages to subjection, and protect the 
colony from future assaults. His project failed on account of the 
dissensions of the company, and the niggardly terms proposed 
by the few members that were found to act on the matter. The 
Rev. Jonas Stockham, in May, 1621, previous to the massacre, 
had expressed the opinion that it was utterly in vain to under- 
take the conversion of the savages, until their priests and "an- 
cients" were put to the sword." Captain Smith held the same 
opinion, and he states that the massacre drove all to believe that 
Mr. Stockham was right in his view on this point.J The event 
justified the policy of Argall in prohibiting intercourse with the 
natives, and had that measure been enforced, the massacre would 
probably have been prevented. The violence and corruption of 
such rulers as Argall serve to disgrace and defeat even good 
measures ; while the virtues of the good are sometimes perverted 
to canonize the most pernicious. 



* Smith, ii. 79 ; Chalmers' Introduction, i. 19 ; Belknap, art. Wyat. 

f Beverley, 43. 

% Anderson's Hist, of Col. Church, i. 343; Smith, 139; Stith, 233. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

1623. 

Crashaw and Opechancanough — Captain Madison massacres a Party of the 
Natives — Yeardley invades the Nansemonds and the Pamunkies — They are 
driven back — Reflections on their Extermination. 

During these calamitous events that had befallen the colony, 
Captain Raleigh Crashaw had been engaged in a trading cruise 
up the Potomac. While he was there, Opechancanough sent two 
baskets of beads to Japazaws, the chief of the Potomacs, to bribe 
him to slay Crashaw and his party, giving at the same time tidings 
of the massacre, with an assurance that "before the end of two 
moons" there should not be an Englishman left in all the country. 
Japazaws communicated the message to Crashaw, and he there- 
upon sent Opechancanough word "that he would nakedly fight 
him, or any of his, with their own swords." The challenge was 
declined. Not long afterwards Captain Madison, who occupied 
a fort on the Potomac River, suspecting treachery on the part of 
the tribe there, rashly killed thirty or forty men, women, and 
children, and carried off the werowance and his son, and two of 
his people, prisoners to Jamestown. The captives were in a short 
time ransomed. 

When the corn was ripe, Sir George Yeardley, with three 
hundred men, invaded the country of the Nansemonds, who, set- 
ting fire to their cabins, and destroying whatever they could not 
carry away, fled; whereupon the English seized their corn, and 
completed the work of devastation. Sailing next to Opechanca- 
nough' s seat, at the head of York River, Yeardley inflicted the 
same chastisement on the Pamunkies. "In New England it 
was said: "Since the news of the massacre in Virginia, though 
the Indians continue their wonted friendship, yet are we more 
wary of them than before, for their hands have been embrued in 
much English blood, only by too much confidence, but not by 
force."* 

* Purchas, iv. 1840. 

(166) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 167 

The red men of Virginia were driven back, like limited wolves, 
from their ancient haunts. While their fate cannot fail to excite 
commiseration, it may reasonably be concluded that the per- 
petual possession of this country by the aborigines would have 
been incompatible with the designs of Providence in promoting 
the welfare of mankind. A productive soil could make little re- 
turn to a people so destitute of the art and of the implements of 
agriculture, and habitually indolent. Navigable rivers, the natu- 
ral channels of commerce, would have failed in their purpose had 
they borne no freight but that of the rude canoe ; primeval forests 
would have slept in gloomy inutility, where the axe was unknown ; 
and the mineral and metallic treasures of the earth would have 
remained forever entombed. In Virginia, since the aboriginal 
population was only about one to the square mile, they could not 
be justly held occupants of the soil. However well-founded their 
title to those narrow portions which they actually occupied, yet 
it was found impossible to take possession of the open country, to 
which the savages had no just claim, without also exterminating 
them from those particular spots that rightfully belonged to them. 
This inevitable necessity actuated the pious Puritans of Plymouth 
as well as the less scrupulous settlers of Jamestown; and force 
was resorted to in all the Anglo-American settlements except in 
that effected, at a later day, by the gentle and sagacious Penn. 
The unrelenting hostility of the savages, their perfidy and vindic- 
tive implacability, made sanguinary measures necessary. In 
Virginia, the first settlers, a small company, in an unknown wil- 
derness, were repeatedly assaulted, so that resistance and retalia- 
tion were demanded by the natural law of self-defence. Nor 
were these settlers voluntary immigrants; the bulk of them had 
been sent over, without regard to their choice, by the king or 
the Virginia Company. Nor did the king or the company author- 
ise any injustice or cruelty to be exercised toward the natives; 
on the contrary, the colonists, however unfit, were enjoined to in- 
troduce the Christian religion among them, and to propitiate their 
good will by a humane and lenient treatment. Smith and his 
comrades, so far from being encouraged to maltreat the Indians, 
were often hampered in making a necessary self-defence, by a 
fear of offending an arbitrary government at home. 



168 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

It has been remarked by Mr. Jefferson,* that it is not so gene- 
ral a truth, as has been supposed, that the lands of Virginia were 
taken from the natives by conquest, far the greater portion having 
been purchased by treaty. It may be objected, that the con- 
sideration was often inadequate; but a small consideration may 
have been sufficient to compensate for a title which, for the most 
part, had but little validity; besides, a larger compensation would 
oftentimes have been thrown away upon men so ignorant and in- 
dolent. Groping in the dim twilight of nature, and slaves of a 
gross idolatry, their lives were circumscribed within a narrow 
uniform circle of animal instincts and the necessities of a preca- 
rious subsistence. Cunning, bloody, and revengeful, engaged in 
frequent wars, they were strangers to that Arcadian innocence 
and the Elysian scenes of a golden age of which youthful poets 
so fondly dream. If an occasional exception occurs, it is but a 
solitary ray of light shooting across the surrounding gloom. Yet 
we cannot be insensible to the many injuries they have suffered, 
and cannot but regret that their race could not be united with 
our own. The Indian has long since disappeared from Virginia; 
his cry no longer echoes in the avoocIs, nor is the dip of his paddle 
heard on the water. The exterminating wave still urges them 
onward to the setting sun, and their tribes are fading one by one 
forever from the map of existence. Geology shows that in the- 
scale of animal life, left impressed on the earth's strata, the in- 
ferior species has still given place to the superior: so likewise is 
it with the races of men. 

* Notes on Va., 102. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

1623-1625. 

James the First jealous of Virginia Company — Gondomar — The King takes 
Measures to annul the Charter — Commissioners appointed — Assembly Peti- 
tions the King — Disputes between Commissioners and Assembly — Butler's 
Account of the Colony — Nicholas Ferrar — Treachery of Sharpless, and his 
Punishment — The Charter of Virginia Company dissolved — Causes of this 
Proceeding — Character of the Company — Records of the Company — Death of 
James the First — Charles the First succeeds him — The Virginia Company — 
Earl of Southampton — Sir Edwin Sandys and Nicholas Ferrar — The Rev. Jonas 
Stockham's Letter — Injustice of the Dissolution of the Charter — Beneficial 
Results — Assembly of 1624. 

The Court of James the First, already jealous of the growing 
power and republican spirit of the Virginia Company, was ren- 
dered still more inimical by the malign influence of Count Gondo- 
mar, the Spanish ambassador, who was jealous of any encroach- 
ment on the Spanish colony of Florida. He remarked to King 
James, of the Virginia Company, that "they were deep politi- 
cians, and had further designs than a tobacco-plantation ; that as 
soon as they should get to be more numerous, they intended to 
step beyond their limits, and, for aught he knew, they might visit 
his master's mines." The massacre afforded an occasion to the 
enemies of the company to attribute all the calamities of the 
colony to its mismanagement and neglect, and thus to frame a 
plausible pretext for dissolving the charter. 

Captain Nathaniel Butler, a dependent of the Earl of Warwick, 
had, by his influence, been sent out Governor of Bermudas for 
three years, where he exercised the same oppression and extor- 
tion as Argall had exhibited in Virginia. Upon finding himself 
compelled to leave those islands, he came to Virginia, in the 
midst of the winter succeeding the massacre. He was hospitably 
entertained by Governor Wyat, which kindness he proved himself 
wholly unworthy of, his conduct being profligate and disorderly. 

(169) 



170 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

He demanded a seat in the council, to which he was in no way 
entitled. He went up the James as far as to the mouth of the 
Chickahominy, where "he plundered Lady Dale's cattle;" and 
after a three months' stay, he set sail for England. Upon his 
return, Butler was introduced to the king, and published " The 
Unmasked Face of our Colony in Virginia, as it was in the Winter 
of 1622," in which he took advantage of the misfortunes of the 
colony, and exaggerated its deplorable condition. The Rev. 
William Mease, (who had been for ten years resident in the 
colony,) with several others, replied to this defamatory pam- 
phlet.* 

The company was divided into two parties, the one headed by 
the Earl of Southampton, Lord Cavendish, Sir Edward Sackville, 
/ Sir John Ogle, Sir Edwin Sandys, with several others of less 
note; on the other side, the leaders were the Earl of Warwick, 
Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Nathaniel Rich, Sir Henry Mildmay, 
\0 Alderman Johnson, etc. They appeared before the king, the 
Earl of Warwick's faction presenting their accusations against 
the company, and the other side defending it; and Sir Edward 
Sackville used such freedom of language that "the king was fain 
to take him down soundly and roundly." However, by the lord 
treasurer's intervention, the matter was reconciled on the next 
day.f 

In May, 1623, a commission was issued authorizing Sir Wil- 
liam Jones, a justice of the common pleas, Sir Nicholas Fortescue, 
Sir Francis Goston, Sir Richard Sutton, Sir William Pitt, Sir 
Henry Bourchier, and Sir Henry Spilman,| to inquire into the 
affairs of the colony. By an order of the privy council the records 
of the company were seized, and the deputy treasurer, Nicholas 
Ferrar, imprisoned, and on the arrival of a ship from Virginia, 
her packets were seized and laid before the privy council. 

Nicholas Ferrar, Jr., was born in London in 1592, educated at 
Cambridge, where he was noted for his talents, acquirements, 



* Stith, 243, 268. 

f Court and Times of James the First, ii. 389. 

J Stith calls him Spilman; Burk, Spiller. (See Belknap, art, Wyat.) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 171 

and piety.* Upon leaving the university he made the tour of 
Europe, winning the esteem of the learned, passing through many 
adventures and perils with Christian heroism, and maintaining 
everywhere an unsullied character. Upon his return to England, 
in 1518, he was appointed king's counsel for the Virginia Planta- 
tion. In the year 1622 he was chosen deputy treasurer of the 
Virginia Company, (which office his brother John also filled for 
some years,) and so remained till its dissolution. In the House 
of Commons he distinguished himself by his opposition to the 
political corruption of that day, and abandoned public life when 
little upwards of thirty years of age, "in obedience to a religious 
fancy he had long entertained," and formed of his family and re- 
lations a sort of little half-popish convent, in which he passed the 
remainder of his life.f 

CarlyleJ thus describes this singular place of retirement: 
" Crossing Huntingdonshire in his way northward, his majesty§ 
had visited the establishment of Nicholas Ferrar, at Little Gid- 
ding, on the western border of that county. A surprising esta- 
blishment now in full flower, wherein above fourscore persons, 
including domestics, with Ferrar and his brother, and aged 
mother at the head of them, had devoted themselves to a kind 
of Protestant monachism, and were getting much talked of in 
those times. They followed celibacy and merely religious duties ; 
employed themselves in binding of prayer-books, embroidering of 
hassocks, in almsgiving also, and what charitable work was pos- 
sible in that desert region ; above all, they kept up, night and day, 
a continual repetition of the English liturgy, being divided into 
relays and watches, one watch relieving another, as on shipboard, 
and never allowing at any hour the sacred fire to go out." 

In October, 1623, the king declared his intention to grant a 
new charter modelled after that of 1606. This astounding order 



* His father, of the same name, a London merchant, was one of the leading 
stockholders in the Virginia Company. Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir John Hawkins, 
Sir Francis Drake, Sir Edwin Sandys, and the like, were frequent guests at his 
table. 

f Belknap, art. Wyat, in note ; Foster's Miscellanies, 3G8. 

X Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, i G9. 

\ Charles the First. 



172 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

was read three times, at a meeting of the company, before they 
could credit their own ears ; then, by an overwhelming vote, they 
refused to relinquish their charter, and expressed their determina- 
tion to defend it. 

The king, in order to procure additional evidence to be used 
against the company, appointed five commissioners to make in- 
quiries in Virginia into the state and condition of the colony. 
In November, 1623, when two of these commissioners had just 
sailed for Virginia, the king ordered a writ of quo warranto to be 
issued against the Virginia Company. 

In the colony, hitherto, the proclamations of the governors, 
which had formed the rule of action, were now enacted into laws; 
and it was declared that the governor should no more impose 
taxes on the colonists without the consent of the Assembly, and 
that he should not withdraw the inhabitants from their private 
labor to any service of his ; and further, that the burgesses should 
be free from arrest during the session of the Assembly. These 
acts of the legislature of the infant colony, while under the con- 
trol of the Virginia Company, render it certain that there was 
more of constitutional and well-regulated freedom in Virginia 
then, than in the mother country. 

Of the commissioners appointed to make inquiries in Virginia, 
John Harvey and John Pory arrived there early in 1624; 
Samuel Matthews and Abraham Percy were planters resident in 
the colony, and the latter a member of the House of Burgesses ; 
John Jefferson, the other commissioner, did not come over to Vir- 
ginia, nor did he take any part in the matter, being a hearty 
friend to the company.* Thomas Jefferson, in his memoir of 
himself,f says that one of his name was secretary to the Virginia 
Company. The Virginia planters at first looking on it as a dis- 
pute between the crown and the company, in which they were 
not essentially interested, paid little attention to it; but two pe- 
titions, defamatory of the colony and laudatory of Sir Thomas 
Smith's arbitrary rule, having come to the knowledge of the 
Assembly, in February, 1624, that body prepared spirited re- 
plies, and drafted a petition to the king, which, with a letter to 

* Stith, 297. f Writings of Jefferson, i. 1. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 173 

the privy council, and other papers, were entrusted to Mr. John 
Pountis, a member of the council.* He died during the voyage 
to England. The letter addressed to the privy council prayed 
"that the governors may not have absolute power, that they 
might still retain the liberty of popular assemblies, than which 
nothing could more conduce to the public satisfaction and public 
utility." At the same time the Virginia Company, in England, 
presented a petition to the House of Commons against the 
arbitrary proceedings of the king; but although favorably re- 
ceived, it was withdrawn as soon as the king's disapprobation was 
announced. 

In Virginia the commissioners refused to exhibit their commis- 
sion and instructions, and the Assembly therefore refused to give 
them access to their records. Pory, one of the commissioners, 
who had formerly lost his place of secretary of the colony by 
betraying its secrets to the Earl of Warwick, suborned Edward 
Sharpless, clerk of the council, to expose to him copies of the 
journal of that body, and of the House of Burgesses. Sharp- 
less being convicted of this misdemeanor was sentenced to the 
pillory, with the loss of his ears.f Only a part of one ear was 
actually cut off. 

The commissioners, having failed to obtain from the Assembly 
a declaration of their willingness to submit to the king's purpose 
of revoking the charter, made a report against the company's 
management of the colony and the government of it, as too po- 
pular, that is, democratic, under the present charter. The king, 
by a proclamation issued in July, suppressed the meetings of the 
company, and ordered for the present a committee of the privy 
council, and others, to sit every Thursday, at the house of Sir 
Thomas Smith, in Philpot Lane, for conducting the affairs of the 
colony. Viscount Mandeville was at the head of this committee : 
Sir George Calvert, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Sir Samuel Argall, 
John Pory, Sir John Wolstenholme, and others, were members. 
At the instance of the attorney-general, to enable the company 
to make a defence, their books were restored and the deputy 
treasurer released. In Trinity term, 1624, the writ of quo war- 

* Hening, i. 120. f Stith, 315. 



174 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

ranto was tried in the Court of King's Bench, and the charter of 
the Virginia Company was annulled. The case was determined 
only upon a technicality in the pleadings. 

In one of the hearings against the company, before the privy 
council, the Marquis of Hamilton said of the letters and instruc- 
tions of the company, written by Nicholas Ferrar, Jr.: "They 
are papers as admirably well penned as any I ever heard." And 
the Earl of Pembroke remarked: "They all deserve the highest 
commendation : containing advices far more excellent than I could 
have expected to have met with in the letters of a trading com- 
pany. For they abound with soundness of good matter and pro- 
fitable instruction, with respect both to religion and policy; and 
they possess uncommon elegance of language."* 

The company had been long obnoxious to the king's ill will 
for several reasons; it had become a nursery for rearing and 
training leaders of the opposition, many of its members being 
likewise members of parliament. It was a sort of reform club. 
The king, in a speech, swore that "the Virginia Company was a 
seminary for a seditious parliament." The company had chosen 
a treasurer in disregard of the king's nomination ; and in electing 
Carew Raleigh, a member, they had made allusions to his father, 
Sir Walter Raleigh, which were doubtless unpalatable to the 
author of his r "^ial murder. The king was greedy of power 
and of mc. hich he wanted the sense and the virtue to make 

a good use of; and he hoped to find in Virginia a new field for 
extortion. Fortunately for the history of the colony, copies of 
the company's records were made by the precaution of Nicholas 
Ferrar : these being deposited in the hands of the Earl of South- 
ampton, after his death, which took place in 1824, descended to 
his son. After his death, in 1667, they were purchased from his 
executors, for sixty guineas, by the first Colonel William Byrd, 
then in England. From these two folio volumes, in possession of 
Sir John Randolph, and from the records of the colony, Stith 
compiled much of his History of Virginia, which comes down to 
the year 1624.f 

* Hist. Mag., ii. 34. 

f It has been said that these folios were sent hack to England by John Ran- 
dolph of Roanoke, (Belknap, art. Wyat;) but it appears that they came into 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 175 

On the sixth day of April, 1625, died King James the First, 
aged fifty-nine, after a reign of twenty years. By his consort, 
Anne of Denmark, he had issue, Henry and Robert, who died 
young, Charles, his successor, and Elizabeth, who married Frederic 
the Fifth, elector Palatine. Charles the First succeeding to the 
crown and the principles of his father, took the government of 
Virginia into his own hands. 

The company thus dissolved, had expended one hundred and 
fifty thousand pounds in establishing the colony, and had 
transported nine thousand settlers without the aid of govern- 
ment. The number of stockholders was about one thousand; 
and the annual value of exports from Virginia was, at the pe- 
riod of the dissolution of the charter, only twenty thousand 
pounds. 

The company embraced much of the rank, wealth, and talents 
of the kingdom — near fifty noblemen, several hundred knights, 
and many gentlemen, merchants, and citizens. Among the 
leaders in its courts were Lord Cavendish, afterwards Earl -of 
Devonshire; Sir Edwin Sandys; and Sir Edward Sackville, 
afterwards the celebrated Earl of Dorset; and, above all, the 
Earl of Southampton, the friend of Essex, and the patron of 
Shakespeare. Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton, 
in 1601, was implicated with the Earl of Essex in his hair-brained 
and abortive conspiracy to seize the person of Queen Elizabeth. 
Essex lost his life. Southampton was convicted, attainted and 
imprisoned during the queen's life. Upon the accession of James 
the First he was liberated, and restored in 1603. He was after- 
wards made Captain of the Isle of Wight and Governor of Caris- 
broke Castle; and in 1618 a member of the privy council. 



possession of Congress as part of Mr. Jefferson's library, and are now in the Law 
Library at Washington. There is to be found there also a volume of papers and 
records of the Virginia Company, from 1621 to 1625. (See article by J. Wingate 
Thornton, Esq., of Boston, in Hist. Mag., ii. 33, recommending that these docu- 
ments Bhould be published by Congi'ess.) There are also valuable MS. historical 
materials in Richmond which ought to be published. The recent destruction of 
the library of William and Mary College shows the precarious tenure by which 
the collections of the Virginia Historical Society, and the records preserved in 
the State Capitol, are held. 



176 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Brave and generous, but haughty and impetuous, he was by no 
means adapted to the court and cabinet of James, where fawning 
servility and base intrigue were the ordinary stepping-stones of 
political advancement. 

About the year 1619, the Earl of Southampton was imprisoned 
through the influence of Buckingham, "whom he rebuked with 
some passion for speaking often to the same thing in the 
house, and out of order." In 1620 he was chosen Treasurer, 
or Governor of the Virginia Company, contrary to the king's 
wishes; but he, nevertheless, continued in that office until the 
charter was dissolved, and at its meetings, and in parliament, 
opposed the measures of a feeble and corrupt court. He and 
Sir Edwin Sandys, the leaders, together with the bulk of the 
members of the company, shared largely in the spirit of civil 
and religious freedom, which was then manifesting itself so 
strongly in England. In the hostile course pursued against 
the company, the attacks were especially directed against the 
earl and his associates Sir Edwin Sandys and Nicholas Ferrar. 
These three were celebrated: Lord Southampton for wisdom, 
eloquence, and sweet deportment; Sir Edwin Sandys for great 
knowledge and integrity; and Nicholas Ferrar for wonderful 
abilities, unwearied diligence, and the strictest virtue.* The earl 
and Sir Edwin were particular objects of the king's hatred. Sir 
Edwin, a member of the House of Commons, was arbitrarily im- 
prisoned in 1621, during the session of parliament ; and the earl 
was arrested after its dissolution. Spain had, at this time, 
acquired the ascendancy in the English Court, and this malign 
influence was skilfully maintained by the intrigues of her crafty 
ambassador, Count Gondornar. It was believed by many that 
James was even willing to sacrifice the interests of the English 
colonies for the benefit of those of Spain. The Rev. Jonas 
Stockham, a minister in Virginia, in a letter dated in May, 1621, 
and addressed to the Council of the Virginia Company, said: 
" There be many Italianated and Spaniolized Englishmen envies 
our prosperities, and by all their ignominious scandals they can 

* Peckai'd's Life of Ferrar — a work which throws much light on the early his- 
tory of Virginia. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 177 

devise, seeks to dishearten what they can those that are willing 
to further this glorious enterprise. To such I wish, according to 
the decree of Darius, that whosoever is an enemy to our peace, 
and seeketk either by getting monipolical patents, or by forging 
unjust tales to hinder our welfare — that his house were pulled 
down, and a pair of gallows made of the wood, and he hanged on 
them in the place." 

The Earl of Southampton was grandson of Wriothesley, the 
famous Chancellor of Edward the Sixth, father to the excellent 
and noble Treasurer Southampton, grandfather to Rachel Lady 
Russel. In his later years he commanded an English regiment 
in the Dutch service, and died in the Netherlands, 1624. Shake- 
speare dedicated some of his minor poems to him ; the County of 
Southampton, in Virginia, probably also took its name from him. 
Captain Smith, who had been unjustly displaced by the company, 
approved of the dissolution of their charter. Yet, as no com- 
pensation was rendered for the enormous expenditure incurred, it 
can be looked upon as little better than confiscation effected by 
chicane and tyranny. A parliamentary committee, of which Sir 
Edwin Sandys was a member, in the same year, 1624, drew up 
articles of impeachment against Lord Treasurer Cranfield for his 
agency in bringing about the dissolution of the charter.* Ne- 
vertheless, the result was undoubtedly favorable to the colony, as 
is candidly acknowledged by that honest chronicler, Stith, although 
no one could be more strenuously opposed to the arbitrary means 
employed. 

An Assembly had been held in March, 1624, and its acts are 
preserved: they are brief and simple, coming directly to the 
point, without the redundancy of modern statutes; and refer 
mainly to agriculture, the church establishment, and defence 
against the Indians. f The following is a list of the members of 
this early Assembly: — 

Sir Francis Wyat, Knt., Governor, etc. 
Captain Francis West, John Pott, 

Sir George Yeardley, Captain Roger Smith, 

George Sandys, Treasurer, Captain Ralph Hamor, 

And John Pountis, of the Council. 

* Belknap. + Hening's Statutes, i. 119, 129. 

12 



ITS 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 



BURGESSES. 

William Tucker, 
Jabez Whitakers, 
William Peeine, 
Raleigh Crashaw, 
Richard Kingsmell, 
Edward Blany, 
Luke Boyse, 
John Pollington, 
Nathaniel Causey, 
Robert Adams, 
y Thomas Harris, 
Richard Stephens, 



BURGESSES. 

Nathaniel Bass, 
John Willcox, 
Nicolas Marten, 
Clement Dilke, 
Isaac Chaplin, 
John Chew, 
John Utie, 
John Southerne, 
Richard Bigge, 
Henry Watkins, 
Gabriel Holland, 
Thomas Morlatt, 

R. Hickman, Clerk. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

1624-1633. 

Charles the First commissions Sir Thomas Wyat, Governor — Assemblies not 
allowed — Royal Government virtually established in Virginia — Other Colonies 
on Atlantic Coast — Wyat returns to Ireland — Succeeded by Yeardley — 
Yeardley succeeded by West — Letter of Charles the First directing an Assem- 
bly to meet — Assembly's Reply — John Pott, Governor — Condition of Colony — 
Statistics— Diet — Pott superseded by Harvey — Dr. John Pott Convicted of 
Stealing Cattle — Sir John Harvey — Lord Raltimore visits Virginia — Refuses 
to take the Oaths tendered to him — Procures from Charles the First a Grant 
of Territory — Acts relative to Ministers, Agriculture, Indians, etc 

In August, 1624, King Charles the First granted a commis- 
sion appointing Sir Thomas Wyat Governor, with a council during 
pleasure, and omitting all mention of an assembly, thinking so 
"popular a course" the chief source of the recent troubles and 
misfortunes. The eleven members of the council were, Francis 
"West, Sir George Yeardley, George Sandys, Roger Smith, Ralph 
Hamor, who had been of the former council, with the addition of 
John Martin, John Harvey, Samuel Matthews, Abraham Percy, 
Isaac Madison, and William Clayborne. Several of these were 
then, or became afterwards, men of note in the colony. This is 
the first mention of William Clayborne, who was destined to play 
an important part in the future annals of Virginia. 

Thus in effect a royal government was now established in Vir- 
ginia; hitherto she had been subject to a complex threefold 
government of the company, the crown, and her own president or 
governor and council.* 



* Chalmers' Introduction, i. 22. Beverley, B. i. 47, says expressly that an 
assembly was allowed. Burk, ii. 15, asserts that "assemblies convened and 
deliberated in the usual form, unchecked and uninterrupted by royal interfer- 
ence, from t lie dissolution of the proprietary government to the period when a 
regular constitution was sent over with Sir W. Berkeley in 1G39." For author- 
ity reference is made to a document in the Appendix, which document, however, 
is Dot to be found there. The opinions of Chalmers — who, as clerk of the privy 

(179) 



180 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

From 1624 to 1628 there is no mention in the statute-book of 
Virginia, or in the journal of the Virginia Company, of any 
assembly having been held in the colony, and in 1628 appeals 
were made to the governor and council; whereas had there been 
an assembly, it would have been the appellate court. 

The French had established themselves as early as 1625 in 
Canada ; the Dutch were now colonizing the New Netherlands ; 
a Danish colony had been planted in New Jersey; the English 
were extending their confines in New England (where New Ply- 
mouth numbered thirty-two houses and one hundred and eighty 
settlers) and Virginia ; while the Spaniards, the first settlers of 
the coast, still held some feeble posts in Florida. 

Sir Thomas Wyat, the governor of the colony of Virginia, on 
the death of his father, Sir George Wyat, returning, in 1626, to 
Ireland, to attend to his private affairs there, was succeeded by 
Sir George Yeardley. He, during the same year, by proclama- 
tion, which now again usurped the place of law, prohibited the 
selling of corn to the Indians ; made some commercial regulations, 
and directed houses to be palisaded. Yeardley dying, was suc- 
ceeded in November, 1627, by Francis West, elected by the 
council. He was a younger brother of Lord Delaware.* 

At a court held at James City, November the sixteenth, Lady 
Temperance Yeardley came and confirmed the conveyance made 
by her late husband, Sir George Yeardley, knight, late governor, 
to Abraham Percy, Esq., for the lands of Flowerdieu Hundred, 
being one thousand acres, and of Weanoke, on the opposite side 
of the Avater, being two thousand two hundred acres. This lady's 
Christian name is Puritanical; another such was Obedience 
Robins, a burgess of Accomac in 1630. 

James the First had extorted a revenue from the tobacco of 
Virginia by an arbitrary resort to his prerogative, and in viola- 
tion of the charter. Charles the First, in a letter dated June, 
1628, proposed that a monopoly of the tobacco trade should be 
granted to him, and recommended the culture of several new pro- 
council, had access to the archives in England — and Hening, confirmed by a cor- 
responding hiatus in the records, appear conclusive against the unsupported 
statements of Beverley and Burk. 

* Belknap, art. Wyat, errs in making Sir John Harvey the successor. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 181 

ducts, and desired that an assembly should be called to take these 
matters into consideration. The ensuing assembly replied, de- 
manding a higher price and more favorable terms than his majesty y 
was disposed to yield. As to the introduction of new staples, 
they explained why, in their opinion, that was impracticable. 
This letter was signed by Francis West, Governor, five members 
of the council, and thirty-one members of the House of Burgesses. 

Sir George Yeardley, the late governor, with two or three of 
the council, had resided for the most part at Jamestown ; the rest 
of the council repaired there as occasion required. There was a 
general meeting of the governor and council once in every three 
months. The population of the colony was estimated at not less 
than fifteen hundred ; they inhabited seventeen or eighteen plan- 
tations, of these the greater part, lying toward the falls of the 
James River, were well fortified against the Indians by means of 
palisades. The planters dwelling above Jamestown, found means 
to procure an abundant supply of fish. On the banks of that 
river the red men themselves were now seldom seen, but their 
fires were occasionally observed in the woods.* 

There was no family in the colony so poor as not to have a 
sufficient stock of tame hogs. Poultry was equally abundant ; 
bread plenty and good. For drink the colonists made use of a 
home-made ale; but the better sort of people were well supplied 
with sack, aqua-vitae, and good English beer. The common diet 
of the servants was milk-hominy, that is, bruised Indian-corn, 
pounded and boiled thick, and eaten with milk. This dish was 
also in esteem with the better sort. Hominy, according to 
Strachey, is an Indian word; Lord Bacon calls it "the cream of 
maize," and commends it as a nutritious diet. The planters were 
generally provided with arms and armor, and on every holiday 
each plantation exercised its men in the use of arms, by which 
means, together with hunting and fowling, the greater part of 
them became excellent marksmen. Tobacco was the only staple 
cultivated for sale. The health of the country was greatly im- 



■• The number of cattle amounted to several thousand head; the stock of goats 
was large, and their increase rapid; the forests abounded with wild hogs, which 
were killed and eaten by the savages. 



182 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

proved by clearing the land, so that the sun had power to exhale 
up the humid vapors. Captain Francis West continued governor 
till March, 1628, and he then being about to embark for Eng- 
land, John Pott was elected governor by the council. 

In the year 1629 most of the land about Jamestown was cleared; 
little corn planted; but all the ground converted into pasture 
and gardens, "wherein doth grow all manners of English herbs 
and roots and very good grass." Such is the cotemporaneous 
statement, but after the lapse of more than two centuries Eastern 
Virginia depends largely on the Northern States for her supply 
of hay. The greater portion of the cattle of the colony was kept 
near Jamestown, the owners being dispersed about on plantations, 
and visiting Jamestown as inclination prompted, or, at the arrival 
of shipping, come to trade. In this year the population of Vir- 
ginia amounted to five thousand, and the cattle had increased in 
the like proportion. The colony's stock of provisions was suffi- 
cient to feed four hundred more than its own number of inhabit- 
ants. Vessels procured supplies in Virginia; the number of 
arrivals in 1629 was twenty-three. Salt fish was brought from 
New England; Kecoughtan supplied peaches. 

Mrs. Pearce, an honest industrious woman, after passing twenty 
years in Virginia, on her return to England reported that she had 
a garden at Jamestown, containing three or four acres, where in 
one year she had gathered a hundred bushels of excellent figs, 
and that of her own provision she could keep a better house in 
Virginia, than in London for three or four hundred pounds 
a year, although she had gone there with little or nothing. The 
planters found the Indian-corn so much better for bread than 
wheat, that they began to quit sowing it. 

An assembly met at Jamestown in October, 1629; it consisted 
of John Pott, Governor, four councillors, and forty-six burgesses, 
returned from twenty-three plantations. Pott was superseded in 
the same year by Sir John Harvey, at some time between Octo- 
ber and March. In March, the quarter court ordered an assembly 
to be called, to meet Sir John Harvey on the twenty-fourth of 
that month ; and nothing was done in Pott's name after October, 
bo far as can be found in the records. 

The late governor was, during the ensuing year, Rob-Roy-like, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 183 

convicted of stealing cattle. The trial commenced on the ninth 
of July, 1630; the number of jurors was thirteen, of whom three 
were members of the council. The first day was wholly spent in 
pleading, the next in unnecessary disputations, Dr. John Pott 
endeavoring to prove Mr. Kingsmell, one of the witnesses against 
him, a hypocrite by the story of " Gusman of Alfrach, the Rogue." 
Pott was found guilty, but in consideration of his rank and station, 
judgment was suspended until the king's pleasure should be 
known ; and all the council became his security. 

Sir John Harvey, the new governor, had been one of the com- 
missioners sent out by King James to Virginia, in 1623, for the 
purpose of investigating the state and condition of the colony, 
and of procuring evidence which might serve to justify the disso- 
lution of the charter of the Virginia Company. Harvey had also 
been a member of the provisional government in the year 1625. 
Returning now to Virginia, no doubt with embittered recollec- 
tions of the collisions with the assembly in which he had been 
formerly involved, he did not fail to imitate the arbitrary rule 
that prevailed "at home," and to render himself odious to the 
inhabitants of the colony. 

Sir George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, descended from 
a noble family in Flanders, born at Kipling, in Yorkshire, Eng- 
land, was educated partly at Trinity College, Oxford, and partly 
on the continent. Sir Robert Cecil, lord treasurer, employed 
him as his secretary, and he was promoted to the clerkship of the 
council. In 1618 he was knighted, and in the succeeding year 
he was made a secretary of state, and one of the committee of 
trade and plantations, with a pension of one thousand pounds. 
Through the influence of Sir Thomas Wentworth, afterwards Earl 
of Strafford, he was chosen a member of Parliament. Receiving 
a patent for the southeastern peninsula of Newfoundland, he 
undertook to establish, in 1621, the plantation of Ferryland, 
which he called the Province of Avalon — a name derived from 
some modireval legend. In 1624 he professed the Romish faith, 
and resigned his place of secretary of state ; but James the First 
still retained this strenuous defender of royal prerogative as a 
member of his privy council, and created him* Baron of Balti- 

* 1G25. 



184 HISTORY OF TEE COLONY AND 

more, in the County of Longford, in Ireland, he being at this 
time the representative of the University of Oxford in the House 
of Commons. Still bent upon establishing a colony in America, 
for the promotion of his private interests, and to provide an 
asylum for the unmolested exercise of his religion, embarking in 
a ship lent him by King Charles the First, he came over to Vir- 
ginia in the year 1629. 

Virginia was founded by men devoted to the principles of the 
Reformation, amid vivid recollections of the persecutions of Mary, 
the Spanish armada, and the recent gunpowder plot, and when 
horror of papists was at its height. The charter of the colony 
expressly required that the oaths of allegiance and supremacy 
should be taken for the purpose of guarding against "the super- 
stitions of the Church of Rome."* 

The assembly being in session at the time of Lord Baltimore's 
arrival, proposed these oaths to him and those with him. He de- 
clined complying with the requisition, submitting, however, a form 
which he was ready to accept, whereupon the assembly determined 
to refer the matter to the privy council. The virtues of this able 
and estimable nobleman did not secure him from personal indig- 
nity. In the old records is found this entry: "March 25th, 
1630, Thomas Tindall to be pilloried two hours for giving my 
Lord Baltimore the lie, and threatening to knock him down."f 

Finding the Virginians unanimously averse to the very name 
of papist, he proceeded to the head of Chesapeake Bay, and ob- 
serving an attractive territory on the north side of the Potomac 
River unoccupied, returned to England, and, in violation of the 
territorial rights of Virginia, obtained from Charles the First a 
grant of the country, afterwards called Maryland, J but died be- 
fore the sealing of his patent. 

During the session of 1629-30 ministers were ordered to con- 
form themselves in all things "according to the canons of the 
Church of England." It would appear that Puritanism had be- 
gun to develope itself among the clergy as well as the laity of the 
colony. Measures were adopted for erecting a fort at Point 

* Burk, ii. 25; Hen., i. 73, 97. f 1 Hen., 552. 

$ Belknap, iii. 20G; Allen's Biog. Die, art. Calvert. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 185 

Comfort; new-comers were exempted from military service during 
the first five years after their arrival ; engrossing and forestalling 
were prohibited. For the furtherance of the production of pot- 
ashes and saltpetre, experiments were ordered to be made; to 
prevent a scarcity of corn, it was enacted that two acres of land, 
or near thereabouts, be planted for every head that works in the 
ground ; regulations were established for the improvement of the 
staple of tobacco. An act provided that the war commenced 
against the Indians be effectually prosecuted, and that no peace 
be concluded with them.* 

The first act of the session of February, 1632, provides that 
there be a uniformity throughout this colony, both in substance 
and circumstance, to the canons and constitution of the Church 
of England, as near as maybe, and that every person yield ready 
obedience to them, upon penalty of the pains and forfeitures in 
that case appointed. Another act directs that ministers shall 
not give themselves to excess in drinking, or riot, spending their 
time idly, by day or night, playing at dice, cards, or any other 
unlawful game. Another order was, that all the council and 
burgesses of the assembly shall in the morning be present at 
divine service, in the room where they sit, at the third beating of 
the drum, an hour after sunrise. No person was suffered to 
"tend" above fourteen leaves of the tobacco-plant, nor to gather 
more than nine leaves, nor to tend any slips of old stalks of 
tobacco, or any of the second crop ; and it was ordained that all 
tobacco should be taken down before the end of November. No 
person was permitted to speak or parley with the Indians, either 
in the woods or on any plantation, "if he can possibly avoid it by 
any means." The planters, however, were required to observe all 
terms of amity with them, taking care, nevertheless, to keep upon 
their guard. The spirit of constitutional freedom exhibited itself 
in an act declaring that the governor and council shall not lay 
any taxes or impositions upon the colony, their land, or commo- 
dities, otherwise than by authority of the grand assembly, to be 
levied and employed as by the assembly shall be appointed. 

Act XL. provides, that the governor shall not withdraw the 

* 1 Hening, 149. 



186 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

inhabitants from their private labors to service of his own, upon 
any color whatsoever. In case of emergency, the levying of men 
shall be ordered by the governor, with the consent of the whole 
body of the council. For the encouragement of men to plant a 
plenty of corn, it was enacted, that the price shall not be re- 
stricted, but it shall be free for every man to sell it as dear as he 
can. Men were not allowed to work in the grounds without their 
arms, and a sentinel on guard; due watch to be kept at night 
when necessary; no commander of any plantation shall either 
himself spend, or suffer others to spend, powder unnecessarily, 
that is to say, in drinking or entertainments. All men fit to bear 
arms were required to bring their pieces to the church on occa- 
sion of public worship. No person within the colony, upon any 
rumor of supposed change and alteration, was to presume to be 
disobedient to the present government, nor servants to their pri- 
vate officers, masters, and overseers, at their uttermost peril. No 
boats were permitted to go and trade to Canada or elsewhere that 
be not of the burthen of ten tons, and have a flush deck, or fitted 
with a grating and a tarpauling, excepting such as be permitted 
for discovery by a special license from the governor.* 



* 1 Hening, 155, 175. 



CHAPTER XX. 

1633-1635. 

Charles the First appoints Council of Superintendence for Virginia — Acts of 
Assembly — William Clayborne authorized by the Crown to make Discoveries 
and Trade — George Lord Baltimore dies — The Patent of Territory granted is 
confirmed to his Son Cecilius, Lord Baltimore — Virginia remonstrates against 
the grant to Baltimore — Lord Baltimore employs his Brother, Leonard Calvert, 
to found the Colony of Maryland — St. Mary's Settled — Harvey visits Calvert 
— Clayborne's Opposition to the New Colony — Character of Baltimore's Patent 
— Contest between Clayborne and the Marylanders — He is convicted of High 
Crimes — Escapes to Virginia — Goes to England for trial of the Case. 

In the year 1632 King Charles issued a commission appointing 
a Council of Superintendence over Virginia, empowering them to 
ascertain the state and condition of the colony. The commis- 
sioners were Edward, Earl of Dorset, Henry, Earl of Derby, 
l^Dudley, Viscount Dorchester, Sir John Coke, Sir John Davers, 
Sir Robert Killegrew, Sir Thomas Rowe, Sir Robert Heath, Sir 
Kineage Tench, Sir Dudley Diggs, Sir John Holstenholm, Sir 
Francis Wyat, Sir John Brooks, Sir Kenelm Digby, Sir John 
Tench, John Banks, Esq., Thomas Gibbs, Esq., Samuel Rott, 
Esq., George Sands, Esq., John Wolstenholm, Esq., Nicholas 
Ferrar, Esq., Gabriel Barber, and John Ferrar, Esquires.* 

Elaborate acts passed by the Colonial Legislature at this pe- 
riod, for improving the staple of tobacco and regulating the trade 
in it, evince the increasing importance of that crop. Tithes were 
imposed of tobacco and corn; and the twentieth "calfe, kidd of 
goates and pigge" granted unto the minister. During the year 
1633 every fortieth man in the neck of land between the James 
River and the York, (then called the Charles,) was directed to 
repair to the plantation of Dr. John Pott, to be employed in 
building of houses and securing that tract of land lying between 
Queen's Creek, emptying into Charles River, and Archer's Hope 

* 2 Burk's Hist, of Va., 35. 

(187) 



188 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Creek, emptying into James River. This was Middle Plantation, 
(now Williamsburg,) so called as being midway between the James 
River and the York. Each person settling there was entitled to 
fifty acres of land and exemption from general taxes. All new- 
comers were ordered to pay sixty-four pounds of tobacco toward 
the maintenance of the fort at Point Comfort.* Thus far, under 
Harvey's administration, the Assembly had met regularly, and 
several judicious and wholesome acts had been passed. 

The Chesapeake Bay is supposed to have been discovered by 
the Spaniards as early as the year 1566 or before, being called 
by them the Bay of Santa Maria. f It was discovered by the 
English in 1585, when Ralph Lane was Governor of the first 
Colony of Virginia. In 1620 John Pory made a voyage of dis- 
covery in the Chesapeake Bay, and found one hundred English 
happily settled on its borders, (in what particular place is not 
known,) animated with the hope of a very good trade in furs. % 
During the years 1627, 1628, and 1629 the governors of Virgi- 
nia gave authority to William Clayborne, " Secretary of State of 
this Kingdom," as the Ancient Dominion was then styled, to dis- 
cover the source of the bay, or any part of that government 
from the thirty-fourth to the forty-first degree of north latitude. § 
In May, 1631, Charles the First granted a license to "our trusty 
and well-beloved William Clayborne," one of the council and Se- 
cretary of State for the colony, authorizing him to make discove- 
ries, and to trade. This license was, by the royal instructions, 
confirmed by Governor Harvey; and Clayborne shortly after- 
wards established a trading post on Kent Island, in the Chesa- 



* 1 Herring, 188, 190, 199, 208, 222. The pay of the officers at Point Com- 
fort was at this time: — 

Lbs. Tobacco. Bbls. Corn. 

To the captain of the fort 2000 10 

To the gunner 1000 6 

To the drummer and porter 1000 6 

For four other men, each of them 500 pounds of 

tobacco, 4 bbls. corn 2000 16 

Total 0000 38 

f Early Voyages to America, 483. J Chalmers' Polit. Annals, 206. 

\ Chalmers' Annals, 227. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 189 

peake Bay, ,not far from the present capital of Maryland, 
Annapolis; and subsequently another at the mouth of the Sus- 
quehanna River. In the year 1632 a burgess was returned from 
the Isle of Kent to the Assembly at Jamestown.* In 1633 a 
warehouse was established in Southampton River for the inhabit- 
ants of Mary's Mount, Elizabeth City, Accomac, and the Isle of 
Kent. 

In the mean time, George, the elder Lord Baltimore, dying on 
the fifteenth of April, 1632, aged fifty, at London, before his pa- 
tent was issued, it was confirmed June twentieth of this year, to 
his son Cecilius, Baron of Baltimore. The new province was 
named Maryland in honor of Henrietta Maria, Queen Consort of 
Charles the First of England, and daughter of Henry the Fourth 
of France. For eighteen months from the signing of the Mary- 
land charter, the expedition to the new colony was delayed by 
the strenuous opposition made to the proceeding. The Virgi- 
nians felt no little aggrieved at this infraction of their chartered 
territory; and they remonstrated to the king in council in 1633, 
against the grant to Lord Baltimore, alleging that " it will be a 
general disheartening to them, if they shall be divided into several 
governments." Future events were about to strengthen their 
sense of the justice of their cause. In July of this year the 
case was decided in the Star Chamber, the privy council, influenced 
by Laud, -Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Earl of Strafford, 
deeming it fit to leave Lord Baltimore to his patent and the com- 
plainants to the course of law "according to their desire," re- 
commending, at the same time, a spirit of amity and good cor- 
respondence between. the planters of the two colonies. So futile 
a decision could not terminate the contest, and Clayborne con- 
tinued to claim Kent Island, and to abnegate the authority of the 
proprietary of Maryland. 

At length, Lord Baltimore having engaged the services of his 
brother, Leonard Calvert, for founding the colony, he with two 
others, one of them probably being another brother, were ap- 
appointed commissioners. The expedition consisted of some 
twenty gentlemen of fortune, and two or three hundred of the 

* 1 Hcning, 154. 



190 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

laboring class, nearly all of them Roman Catholics. Imploring 
the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, St. Ignatius, and all the 
guardian angels of Maryland, they set sail from Cowes, in the 
Isle of Wight, in November, 1633, St. Cecilia's day. The 
canonized founder of the order of the Jesuits, Ignatius Loyola, 
was the patron saint of the infant Maryland. February twenty- 
seventh, 1634, they reached Point Comfort, filled with apprehen- 
sions of the hostility of the Virginians to their colonial enter- 
prise. Letters from King Charles and the chancellor of the 
exchequer conciliated Governor Harvey, who hoped, by his kind- 
ness to the Maryland colonists, to insure the recovery of a large 
sum of money due him from the royal treasury. The Virginians 
were at this time all under arms expecting the approach of a hos- 
tile Spanish fleet. Calvert, after a hospitable entertainment, 
embarked on the third of March for Maryland. Clayborne, who 
had accompanied Harvey to Point Comfort to see the strangers, 
did not fail to intimidate them by accounts of the hostile spirit 
which they would have to encounter in the Indians of that part 
of the country to which they were destined. Calvert, on arriving 
in Maryland, was accompanied in his explorations of the country 
by Captain Henry Fleet, an early Virginia pioneer, who was 
familiar Avith the settlements and language of the savages, and in 
much favor with them; and it was under his guidance and direc- 
tion that the site of St. Mary's, the ancient capital of Maryland, 
was selected.* White, a Jesuit missionary, says of Fleet: "At 
the first he was very friendly to us ; afterwards, seduced by the 
evil counsels of a certain Clayborne, who entertained the most 
hostile disposition, he stirred up the minds of the natives against 
us."f White mentions that the Island of Monserrat, in the West 
Indies, where they touched, was inhabited by Irishmen who had 

* White's Relation, 4; Force's Hist. Tracts. 

■j- White's Relation of the Colony of the Lord Baron of Baltimore in Maryland, 
near Virginia, and a Narrative of the Voyage to Maryland, was copied from the 
archives of the Jesuit's College at Rome, by Rev. William McSherry, of George- 
town College, and translated from the Latin. An abstract of it may be found in 
chapter first of History of Maryland, by James McSherry. The first part of the 
Relation is a description of the country, and appears to have been written at Lon- 
don previous to the departure of Calvert; the remainder details the incidents of 
the voyage and the first settlement of the colony, especially of the proceedings 
of the Jesuit missionaries down to the year 1677. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 191 

been expelled by the English of Virginia "on account of their 
profession of the Catholic faith." 

In a short time after the landing of Leonard Calvert in Mary- 
land, Sir John Harvey, Governor of Virginia, visited him at St. 
Mary's. His arrival attracted to the same place the Indian chief 
of Patuxent, who said: "When I heard that a great werowance 
of the English was come to Yoacomoco, I had a great desire to 
see him; but when I heard the werowance of Pasbie-haye was 
come thither also to see him, I presently start up, and without 
further counsel came to see them both."* 

In March, 1634, at a meeting of the governor and council, 
Clayborne inquired of them how he should demean himself 
toward Lord Baltimore and his deputies in Maryland, who 
claimed jurisdiction over the colony at Kent Isle. The governor 
and council replied that the right of his lordship's patent being 
yet undetermined in England, they were bound in duty and by 
their oaths to maintain the rights and privileges of the colony of 
Virginia. Nevertheless, in all humble submission to his majesty's 
pleasure, they resolved to keep and observe all good correspond- 
ence with the Maryland new-comers. f 

The Maryland patent conferred upon Lord Baltimore, a popish 
recusant, the entire government of the colony, including the pa- 
tronage and advowson of all churches, the same to be dedicated 
and consecrated according to the ecclesiastical law. This charter 
was illegal, inasmuch as it granted powers which the king him- 
self did not possess ; the grantee being a papist could not conform 
to the ecclesiastical laws of England; and, therefore, the provi- 
sions of this extraordinary instrument could not be, and were not 
designed to be, executed according to the plain and obvious mean- 
ing. Such was the character of the instrument by which King 
Charles the First despoiled Virginia of so large a portion of her 
territory. It is true, indeed, that the Virginia charter had been 
annulled, but this was done upon the condition explicitly and re- 

* Anderson's Hist, of Col. Church, ii. 120, referring to "Relation of the suc- 
cessful beginnings of the Lord Baltimore's Plantation, in Maryland," signed by 
Captain AVintour, and others, adventurers in the expedition, and published "in 
1684. 

Oners' Annals. Chalmers is the more full and satisfactory in his account 
of Maryland, because he had resided there for many years. 



192 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

peatedly declared by the royal government, that vested rights 
should receive no prejudice thereby.* 

Clayborne, rejecting the authority of the new plantation, Lord 
Baltimore gave orders to seize him if he should not submit him- 
self to the proprietary government of Maryland. The Indians 
beginning to exhibit some indications of hostility toward the set- 
tlers, they attributed it to the machinations of Clayborne, alleg- 
ing that it was he who stirred up the jealousy of the savages, 
persuading them that the new-comers were Spaniards and ene- 
mies to the Virginians, and that he had also infused his own 
spirit of insubordination into the inhabitants of Kent Island. A 
trading vessel called the Longtail, employed by Clayborne in the 
Indian trade in the Chesapeake Bay, was captured by the Mary- 
landers. He thereupon fitted out an armed pinnace with a crew 
of fourteen men under one of his adherents, Lieutenant Warren, 
to rescue the vessel. Two armed pinnaces were sent out by Cal- 
vert under Captain Cornwallis; and in an engagement that en- 
sued in the Potomac, or, as some accounts have it, the Pocomoke 
River, one of the Marylanders fell, and three of the Virginians, 
including Lieutenant Warren. The rest were carried prisoners 
to St. Mary's. Clayborne was indicted although not arrested, 
and convicted of murder and piracy, constructive crimes inferred 
from his opposition. The chief of Patuxent was interrogated as 
to Clayborne's intrigues among the Indians. f 

Harvey, either from fear of the popular indignation, or from 
some better motive, refused to surrender the fugitive Clayborne 
to the Maryland commissioners, and according to one authority^ 
sent him to England, accompanied by the witnesses. Chalmers, 
good authority on the subject, makes no allusion to the circum- 
stance, and it appears more probable that Clayborne having ap- 
pealed to the king, went voluntarily to England.§ It is certain 
that he was not brought to trial there. 

* Force's Hist. Tracts, ii. ; Virginia and Maryland, 7 et seq. ; and Anderson's 
Hist, of Col. Church, ii. 113. 

f McSherry's Maryland, 40; Chalmers' Annals, 211, 232; Force's Historical 
Tracts, ii. 13. 

J Burk's Hist, of Va., ii. 41, referring to "Ancient Records" of the London 
Company. 

I Force's Hist. Tracts, ii. ; Maryland and Virginia, 22. 



CHAPTER XXL 

1635-1639. 

Eight Shires — Harvey's Grants of Territory — His Corrupt and Tyrannical Ad- 
ministration — The Crown guarantees to the Virginians the Rights which they 
enjoyed before the Dissolution of the Charter — Burk's Opinion of Clayborne — 
Governor Harvey deposed — Returns to England — Charles the First reinstates 
him — Disturbances in Kent Island — Charles reprimands Lord Baltimore for his 
Maltreatment of Clayborne — The Lords Commissioners decide in favor of Balti- 
more — Threatening State of Affairs in England — Harvey recalled — Succeeded 
by Sir Francis Wyat. 

In the year 1634 Virginia was divided into eight shires : James 
City, Henrico, Charles City, Elizabeth City, Warrasqueake, 
Charles River, and Accomac. The original name of Pamaunkee, 
or Pamunkey, had then been superseded by Charles River, which 
afterwards gave way to the present name of York. Pamunkey, 
at first the name of the whole river, is now restricted to one of 
its branches. The word Pamaunkee is said to signify "where 
we took a sweat." 

The grant of Maryland to Lord Baltimore opened the way for 
similar grants to other court-favorites, of lands lying to the north 
and to the south of the settled portion of the Ancient Colony and 
Dominion of Virginia. While Charles the First was lavishing 
vast tracts of her territory upon his favorites, Sir John Harvey, 
a worthy pacha of such a sultan, in collusion with the royal com- 
missioners, imitated the royal munificence by giving away large 
bodies not only of the public, or crown lands, but even of such as 
belonged to private planters.* In the contests between Clayborne 
and the proprietary of Maryland, Avhile the people of Virginia 
Warmly espoused their countryman's cause, Harvey sided with 
Baltimore, and proved himself altogether a fit instrument of the 
administration then tyrannizing in England. He was extor- 



* Beverley, B. i. 50. 

13 (193) 



194 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

tionate, proud, unjust, and arbitrary; he issued proclamations in 
derogation of the legislative powers of the assembly; assessed, 
levied, held, and disbursed the colonial revenue, without check 
or responsibility; transplanted into Virginia exotic English sta- 
tutes; multiplied penalties and exactions, and appropriated fines 
to his own use; he added the decrees of the court of high com- 
mission of England to the ecclesiastical constitutions of Virginia. 
The assembly, nevertheless, met regularly ; and the legislation of 
the colony expanded itself in accordance with the exigencies of 
an increasing population. Tobacco was subjected, by royal ordi- 
nances, to an oppressive monopoly; and in those days of pre- 
rogative, a remonstrance to the Commons for redress proved 
fruitless. 

At length, in July, 1634, the council's committee for the colo- 
nies, either from policy or from compassion, transmitted instruc- 
tions to the governor and council, saying : " That it is not intended 
that interests which men have settled when you were a corpora- 
tion, should be impeached; that for the present they may enjoy 
their estates with the same freedom and privilege as they did be- 
fore the recalling of their patents," and authorizing the appropria- 
tion of lands to the planters, as had been the former custom.* 

Whether these concessions were inadequate in themselves, or 
were not carried into effect by Harvey, upon the petition of many 
of the inhabitants, an assembly was called to meet on the 7th of 
May, 1635, to hear complaints against that obnoxious functionary. 
There is hardly any point on which a people are more sensitive 
than in regard to their territory, and it may therefore be con- 
cluded, that one of Harvey's chief offences was his having sided 
with Lord Baltimore in his infraction of the Virginia territory. 

Burk, in his History of Virginia, has stigmatized Clayborne 
as "an unprincipled incendiary" and "execrable villain;" other 
writers have applied similar epithets to him. It appears to have 
been only his resolute defence of his own rights and those of Vir- 



* By the words "for the present," was probably intended "at present," 
''now," otherwise tbeir interests might be impeached at a future day, although 
not immediately. Chalmers, Hist, of Revolt of Amer. Colonies, 36, so inter- 
prets the expression. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 195 

ginia that subjected him to this severe denunciation. He was 
long a member of the council; long filled the office of secretary; 
was held in great esteem by the people, and was for many years 
a leading spirit of the colony. Burk* denounces Sir John Har- 
vey for refusing to surrender the fugitive Clayborne to the de- 
mand of the Maryland Commissioners, and adds: "But the time 
was at hand when this rapacious and tyrannical prefect (Harvey) 
would experience how vain and ineffectual are the projects of 
tyranny when opposed to the indignation of freemen." Thus the 
governor, who excited the indignation of the Virginians by his 
collusion with the Marylanders, was afterwards reprobated by 
historians for sympathizing with Clayborne in his defence of the 
rights of Virginia, and opposition to the Marylanders. If Har- 
vey, in violation of the royal license granted to Clayborne in 
1631, had surrendered him to the Maryland Commissioners, he 
would have exposed himself to the royal resentment ; and nothing 
could have more inflamed the indignation of freemen than such 
treatment of the intrepid vindicator of their territorial rights. 

Before the assembly (called to hear complaints against the 
governor) met, Harvey, having consented to go to England to 
answer them, was "thrust out of the government" by the council 
on the 28th of April, 1635, and Captain John West was authorized 
to act as governor until the king's pleasure should be known. 
The assembly having collected the evidence, deputed two members 
of the council to go out with Harvey to prefer the charges against 
him. It was also ordered that during the vacancy in the office 
of governor, the secretary (Clayborne) should sign commissions 
and passes, and manage the affairs of the Indians. f 

King Charles the First, offended at the presumption of the 
council and assembly, reinstated Sir John, and he resumed his 
place, in or before the month of January, 1636. Chalmers| says 
that he returned in April, 1637. Thus the first open resistance 
to tyranny, and vindication of constitutional right, took place in 
the colony of Virginia; and the deposition of Harvey fore- 
shadowed the downfall of Charles the First. The laws that had 



* Hist, of Va., ii. 40. f Hen., i. 223. 

X Hist, of Revolt of Amer. Colonies, i. 36. 



196 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

been enacted by the first assembly of Maryland, having been sent 
over to England for his approval, he rejected them, on the ground 
that the right of framing them was vested in himself; and he 
directed an assembly to be summoned to meet in January, 1638, 
to have his dissent announced to them. 

Early in 1637 a court was established by the Maryland authori- 
ties, in Kent Island, and toward the close of that year Captain 
George Evelin was appointed commander of the island. Many 
of Clayborne's adherents there refused to submit to the jurisdic- 
tion of Lord Baltimore's colony, and the governor, Leonard Cal- 
vert, found it necessary to repair there in March, 1638, in person, 
with a military force, to reduce to submission these Virginia 
malecontents. The Maryland legislature, convened in compliance 
with Lord Baltimore's orders, refused to acquiesce in his claim 
of the legislative power, and in the event they gained their point, 
his lordship being satisfied with a controlling influence in the 
choice of the delegates, and his veto. 

The Virginians captured by Cornwallis in his engagement with 
Warren, had been detained prisoners without being brought to 
trial, there being no competent tribunal in the colony. At length 
Thomas Smith, second in command to Warren, was brought to 
trial for the murder of William Ashmore, (who had been killed in 
the skirmish,) and was found guilty, and sentenced to death ; but 
it is not certain that he was executed. Clayborne was attainted, 
and his property confiscated; and these proceedings probably 
produced those disturbances in Kent Island which required the 
governor's presence. 

Harvey, after his restoration, continued to be governor of Vir- 
ginia for about three years, during which period there appears to 
have been no meeting of the assembly, and of this part of his ad- 
ministration no record is left. 

In July, 1638, Charles the Eirst addressed a letter to Lord 
Baltimore, referring to his former letters to " Our Governor and 
Council of Virginia, and to others, our officers and subjects in 
these parts, (in which) we signified our pleasure that William 
Clayborne, David Morehead, and other planters in the island near 
Virginia, which they have nominated Kentish Island, should in 
no sort be interrupted by you or any other in your right, but 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 197 

rather be encouraged to proceed in so good a work." The king 
complains to Baltimore that his agents, in spite of the royal in- 
structions, had "slain three of our subjects there, and by force 
possessed themselves by night of that island, and seized and car- 
ried away both the persons and estates of the said planters.'' 
His majesty concludes by enjoining a strict compliance with his 
former orders.* 

In 1639 Father John Gravener, a Jesuit missionary, resided 
at Kent Island. In April of this year the Lords Commissioners 
of Plantations, with Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, at their 
head, held a meeting at Whitehall, and determined the contro- 
versy between Clayborne and Lord Baltimore. This decision 
was made in consequence of a petition presented in 1637 by Clay- 
borne to the king, claiming, by virtue of discovery and settlement, 
Kent Island and another plantation at the mouth of the Susque- 
hanna River, and complaining of the attempts of Lord Baltimore's 
agents there to dispossess him and his associates, and of outrages 
committed upon them. The decision was now absolute in favor 
of Baltimore; and Clayborne, despairing of any peaceable re- 
dress, returned to Virginia, and having in vain prayed for the 
restoration of his property, awaited some future opportunity to 
vindicate his rights, and to recover property amounting in value 
to six thousand pounds, of which he had been despoiled. f 

The Governor of Maryland, engaged in hostilities with the In- 
dians, obtained a supply of arms, ammunition, and provision 
from the Governor of Virginia. 

Charles the First, bred in all the arts of corrupt and arbitrary 
government, had now for many years governed England by pre- 
rogative, without a parliament, until at length his necessities con- 
strained him to convene one; and his apprehensions of that body, 
and the revolt of the Scotch, and other alarming ebullitions of 
discontent, admonished him and his advisers to mitigate the high- 
handed measures of administration. The severity of colonial 
rule was also relaxed, and in November, 1639, the unpopular Sir 



* Chalmers' Annals, 232. 

f Clayborne is the same name with Claiborne ; it is found sometimes spelt 
Claiborn, and sometimes Cleyborne. 



198 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

John Harvey was displaced, and succeeded by Sir Francis Wyat.* 
But Harvey remained in Virginia, and continued to be a member 
of the council. About this time mention is made of the exporta- 
tion of cattle from Virginia to New England. 



* 1 Hening's Stat, at Large, 4. Burk, Hist, of Va., ii. 46, erroneously makes 
Sir William Berkley succeed Harvey. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

1640-1G44. 

Alarming State of Affairs in England — The Long Parliament summoned — In Vir- 
ginia Stephen Keekes pilloried — Sir William Berkley made Governor — Assem- 
bly declare against Restoration of Virginia Company — The King's Letter — 
Puritans in Virginia — Act against Non-conformists — Massacre of 1644 — Ope- 
chancanough captured — His Death — Civil War in England — Sir William Berk- 
ley visits England— Clayborne expels Calvert from Maryland, and seizes the 
Government — Treaty with Necotowance — Statistics of the Colony. 

Tke spirit of constitutional freedom awakened by the Refor- 
mation, and which had been long gradually gaining strength, 
began to develope itself with new energy in England. The arbi- 
trary temper of Charles the First excited so great dissatisfaction 
in the people, and such a strenuous opposition in parliament, as 
to exact at length his assent to the "Petition of Right." The 
public indignation was carried to a high pitch by the forced levy- 
ing of ship-money, that is, of money for the building of ships-of- 
war, and John Hampden stood forth in a personal resistance to 
this unconstitutional mode of raising money. The Puritans 
found within the pale of the Established Church, as well as with- 
out, were arrayed against the despotic rule of the crown and the 
hierarchy; and Scotland was not less offended against the king, 
who undertook to obtrude the Episcopal liturgy upon the Presbyte- 
rian land of his birth. In the year 1640 Charles the First found 
himself compelled to call together the Long Parliament. Virgi- 
nia meantime remained loyal; the decrees of the courts of high 
commission were the rule of conduct, and the authority of Arch- 
bishop Laud was as absolute in the colony as in the fatherland. 
Stephen Reekes was pilloried for two hours, with a label on his 
back signifying his offence, fined fifty pounds, and imprisoned 
during pleasure, for saying "that his majesty was at confession 
with the Lord of Canterbury," that is, Archbishop Laud. 

In May, 1641, the Earl of Strafford was executed, and Arch- 
bishop Laud sent to the Tower, where he was destined to remain 

(10 ( J) 



200 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

until he suffered the same fate. The massacre of the Protestants 
in Ireland occurring in the latter part of this year, rendered still 
more portentous the threatening storm. January tenth, the king 
left London, to which he was not destined to return till brought 
back a prisoner. 

In February, 1642, Sir Francis Wyat gave way to Sir William 
Berkley, whose destiny it was to hold the office of governor for a 
period longer than any other governor, and to undergo extraor- 
dinary vicissitudes of fortune. His commission and instructions 
declared that it was intended to give due encouragement to the 
plantation of Virginia, and that ecclesiastical as well as tem- 
poral matters should be regulated according to the laws of Eng- 
land; provision was also made for securing to England a mono- 
poly of the trade of the colony. By some salutary measures 
which Sir William Berkley introduced shortly after his arrival, 
and by his prepossessing manners, he soon rendered himself very 
acceptable to the Virginians. 

In April, 1642, the assembly made a declaration against the 
restoration of the Virginia Company then proposed, denouncing 
the company as having been the source of intolerable calamities 
to the colony by its illegal proceedings, barbarous punishments, 
and monopolizing policy. They insisted that its restoration 
would cause them to degenerate from the condition of their birth- 
right, and convert them from subjects of a monarchy to the 
creatures of a popular and- tumultuary government, to which they 
would be obliged to resign their lands held from the crown; 
which they intimate, if necessary, would be more fitly resigned 
to a branch of the royal family than to a corporation. They 
averred that the revival of the company would prove a death- 
blow to freedom of trade, "the life-blood of a commonwealth." 
Finally, the assembly protested against the restoration of the 
company, and decreed severe penalties against any who should 
countenance the scheme.* 

At a court holden at James City, June the 29th, 1642, present 
Sir William Berkley, knight, governor, etc., Captain John West, 
Mr. Rich. Kemp, Captain William Brocas, Captain Christo- 

* 1 Heniug, 230; Burk, ii. 68. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 201 

pher "Wormley, Captain Humphrey Higginson. The commission 
for the monthly court of Upper Norfolk was renewed, and the 
commissioners appointed were, Captain Daniel Gookin, com- 
mander, Mr. Francis Hough, Captain Thomas Burbage, Mr. 
John Hill, Mr. Oliver Spry, Mr. Thomas Den, Mr. Randall 
Crew, Mr. Robert Bennett, Mr. Philip Bennett. The captains 
of trained bands : Captain Daniel Gookin, Captain Thomas Bur- 
bage.* 

Among the converts made by one of the New England mis- 
sionaries, named Thompson, was Daniel Gookin (son of the early 
settler of that name.) He removed to Boston in May, 16-14, 
being probably one of those who were driven away from Virginia 
for non-conformity. He went away with his family in a ship 
bought by him from the governor, and was received with distinc- 
tion at Boston. He soon became eminent in New England, and 
afterwards enjoyed the confidence of Cromwell, of whom he was 
a devoted adherent. He was author of several historical works. 
He died in March, 1686-7f. 

The alarming crisis in the affairs of Charles the First strongly 
dictated the necessity of a conciliatory course; and the remon- 
strance, together with a petition, being communicated to him, then 
at York, just on the eve of the "Grand Rebellion," he replied to 
it, firmly engaging never to restore the Virginia Company. 

The following is a copy of the king's letter : — 

"C. R. 

"Trusty and well-beloved, we greet you all. Whereas, we 
have received a petition from you, our governor, council and bur- 
gesses of the grand assembly in Virginia, together with a de- 
claration and protestation of the first of April, against a petition 
presented in your names to our House of Commons in this our 
kingdom, for restoring of the letters patent for the incorporation 
of the late treasurer and council, contrary to our intent and 
meaning, and against all such as shall go about to alienate you 
from our immediate protection. And whereas, you desire by 



* Art. by J. Wingate Thornton, Esq., in Mass Gen. and Antiq. Register for 
1817, page 318. f Ibid., 352. 



202 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

your petition that we should confirm this your declaration and 
protestation under our royal signet, and transmit the same to 
that our colony ; these are to signify, that your acknowledgments 
of our great bounty and favors toward you, and your so earnest 
desire to continue under our immediate protection, are ^ery ac- 
ceptable to us; and that as we had not before the least intention 
to consent to the introduction of any company over that our co- 
lony ; so we are by it much confirmed in our former resolutions, 
as thinking it unfit to change a form of government wherein 
(besides many other reasons given, and to be given.) our subjects 
there (having had so long experience of it) receive so much con- 
tent and satisfaction. And this our approbation of your petition 
and protestation we have thought fit to transmit unto you under 
our royal signet. 

" Given at our Court, at York, the 5th of July, 1642. 

" To our trusty and well-beloved our Governor, Council, and 
Burgesses of the Grand Assembly of Virginia."* 

It was in this year that the name of Charles City County was 
changed into York. 

As early as 1619 a small party of English Puritans had come 
over to Virginia; and a larger number would have followed them, 
but they were prevented by a royal proclamation issued at the 
instance of Bancroft, the persecuting Archbishop of Canterbury. 
In 1642 a deputation was sent from some Virginia dissenters to 
Boston, soliciting a supply of pastors from the New England 
churches; three clergymen were accordingly sent, with letters re- 
commending them to the governor, Sir William Berkley. On 
their arrival in Virginia they began to preach in various parts of 
the country, and the people flocked eagerly to hear them. The 
following year the assembly passed the following act: "For the 
preservation of the purity of doctrine and unity of the church, 
it is enacted, that all ministers whatsoever, which shall reside in 
the colony, are to be conformable to the orders and constitutions 
of the Church of England and the laws therein established; and 
not otherwise to be admitted to teach or preach, publickly or 

* Chalmers' Annals, 133. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 203 

privately ; and that the governor and council do take care, that 
all non-conformists, upon notice of them, shall be compelled to 
depart the colony with all convenience."* Sir William Berkley, 
equally averse to the religious tenets and political principles of 
the Puritan preachers, issued a proclamation in consonance with 
this exclusive act. Mather says of the three New England mis- 
sionaries : " They had little encouragement from the rulers of the 
place, but they had a kind entertainment with the people;" and 
Winthrop: "Though the State did silence the ministers, because 
they would not conform to the order of England, yet the people 
resorted to them in* private houses to hear them." In a short 
time the preachers returned to their own country. 

The Indians, whose hatred to the whites, although dissembled, 
had never been abated, headed by Opechancanough, committed a 
second massacre on the 18th day of April, 1644. It was attri- 
buted to the encroachments made upon them by some of Sir John 
Harvey's grants; but it was suspected by some that Opechanca- 
nough was instigated to this massacre by certain of the colonists 
themselves, who informed him of the civil war then raging in 
England, and of the dissensions that disturbed the colony, and 
told him, that now was his time or never, to root out all of the 
English. This is improbable. Had the Indians followed up the 
first blow, the colonists must have all been cut off; but after their 
first treacherous onslaught, their courage failed them, and they 
fled many miles from the settlements. The colonists availed 
themselves of this opportunity to gather together, call an assem- 
bly, secure their cattle, and to devise some plan of defence and 
attack. 

Opechancanough, the fierce and implacable enemy of the whites, 
was now nearly a hundred years old, and the commanding form, 
which had so often shone conspicuous in scenes of blood, was worn 
down by the fatigues of war, and bending under the weight of 
years. No longer able to walk, he was carried from place to 
place by his warriors in a litter. His body was emaciated, and 
he could only see when his eyelids were opened by his attendants. 
Sir William Berkley at length moving rapidly with a party of 

* 1 Hening, 277. 



204 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

horse, surprised the superannuated chief at some distance from 
his residence, and he was carried a prisoner to Jamestown, and 
there kindly treated. He retained a spirit unconquered by de- 
crepitude of body or reverse of fortune. Hearing one day foot- 
steps in the room where he lay, he requested his eyelids to be 
raised, when, perceiving a crowd of persons attracted there by a 
curiosity to see the famous chief, he called for the governor, and 
upon his appearance, said to him: "Had it been my fortune to 
take Sir William Berkley prisoner, I would have disdained to 
make a show of him." He, however, had made a show of Cap- 
tain Smith when he was a prisoner. About a fortnight after 
Opechancanough's capture, one of his guards, for some private 
revenge, basely shot him in the back. Languishing awhile of the 
wound, he died at Jamestown, and was probably buried there. 
His death brought about a peace with the Indian savages, which 
endured for many years without interruption. 

Sir William Berkley left Virginia for England in June, 1644, 
and returned in June, 1645, his place being filled during his 
absence by Richard Kemp. 

The spirit of freedom long gaining ground, like a smothered 
fire, began now to flame up and burst forth in England. Charles 
the First, incomparably superior to his father in manners, habits, 
and tastes — a model of kingly grace and dignity, yet was a more 
determined and dangerous enemy to the rights of the people. 
On the 19th of March, 1642, having escaped from insurgent 
London, ho reached the ancient capital, York, and on the twenty- 
fifth day of August raised his standard, under inauspicious omens, 
at Nottingham. The royal forces under Prince Rupert suifered 
a disastrous defeat at Marston Moor, July 2d, 1644; and while 
Sir William Berkley was crossing the Atlantic, the king was 
overthrown at Naseby, on the 4th of June, 1645. In this event- 
ful year, and so disastrous to the king, of whom the Berkleys 
were such staunch supporters, Gloucester, the chief city of the 
county where they resided, and which had been ravaged and 
plundered by Rupert, was now in the hands of the parliamentary 
forces, and Cromwell had been early in the year convoying am- 
munition thither.* A sad time for the visit of the loyal Berkley! 

* Carlyle's Cromwell, i. 144. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 205 

During the troubles in England the correspondence of the 
colony was interrupted, supplies reduced, trade obstructed; and 
the planters looked forward with solicitude to the issue of such 
alarming events. 

In the mean while Lord Baltimore, taking advantage of the 
weakness of the crown, had shown some contempt for its authority, 
and had drawn upon himself the threat of a quo warranto. 

Early in 1645, Clayborne, profiting by the distractions of the 
mother country, and animated by an indomitable, or, as his 
enemies alleged, a turbulent spirit, and by a sense of wrongs long 
unavenged, at the head of a band of insurgents, expelled Leonard 
Calvert, deputy governor, from Maryland, and seized the reins 
of government. In the month of August, 1646, Calvert, who 
had taken refuge in Virginia, regained command of Maryland. 
Nevertheless, Clayborne and his confederates, with but few ex- 
ceptions, emerged in impunity from this singular contest. 

Opechancanough was succeeded by Necotowance, styled " King 
of the Indians," and in October, 1646, a treaty was effected with 
him, by which he agreed to hold his authority from the King of 
England, (who was now bereft of his own,) while the assembly 
engaged to protect him from his enemies ; in acknowledgment 
whereof, he was to deliver to the governor a yearly tribute of 
twenty beaver skins at the departure of the wild-geese.* By 
this treaty it was further agreed, that the Indians were to occupy 
the country on the north side of York River, and to cede to the 
English all the country between the York and the James, from 
the falls to Kiquotan ; death for an Indian to be found within 
this territory, unless sent in as a messenger; messengers to be 
admitted into the colony by means of badges of striped cloth; 
and felony for a white man to be found on the Indian hunting- 
ground, which was to extend from the head of Yapin, the Black- 
water, to the old Mannakin town, on the James River; badges 
to be received at Fort Royal and Fort Henry, alias Appomattox. 
Fort Henry had been established not long before this, at the 
falls of the Appomattox, now site of Petersburg ; Fort Charles at 
the falls of the James; Fort James on the Chickahominy. This 

* Cohonk, the cry of the wild-geese, was an Indian term for winter. 



206 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

one was under command of Lieutenant Thomas Rolfe, son of 
Pocahontas.* Fort Royal was on the Pamunkey. 

The colony bore a natural resemblance to the mother country, 
no little modified by new circumstances, and followed her, yet 
not with equal step. The government and the people were appa- 
rently, in the main, loyal, but there was a growing Puritan 
party, and William Clayborne appears to have been at the head 
of it. In 1647 certain ministers, refusing to read the Common 
Prayer on the Sabbath, were declared not entitled to tythes. 
Two years before, mercenary attorneys had been, by law, expelled 
from the courts, and now attorneys were prohibited from receiving 
any compensation for their services, and the courts were directed 
not to allow any professional attorneys to appear in civil causes. 
In case there appeared danger of a party suffering in his suit by 
reason of his weakness, the court was directed to appoint some 
suitable person in his behalf from the people. It has been sug- 
gested in modern times, as an improvement in the administration 
of justice, to allow the parties to make their own statements. 

There were in Virginia, in 1648, about fifteen thousand Eng- 
lish, and of negroes that had been imported, three hundred good 
servants. Of cows, oxen, bulls, and calves, "twenty thousand, 
large and good;" and the colonists made plenty of butter and 
good cheese. The number of horses and mares, of good breed, 
was two hundred; of asses fifty. The sheep numbered three 
thousand, producing good wool; there were five thousand goats. 
Hogs, tame and wild, innumerable, and the bacon excellent; 
poultry equally abundant. Wheat was successfully cultivated. 
The abundant crop of barley supplied malt, and there were public 
brew-houses, and most of the planters brewed a good and strong 
beer for themselves. Hops were found to thrive well. The price- 
current of beef was two pence halfpenny (about five cents) a pound, 
pork six cents. Cattle bore about the same price as in England; 
most of the vessels arriving laid in their stores here. Thirty 
different sorts of river and sea fish were caught. Thirty species 
of birds and fowls had been observed, and twenty kinds of quad- 



* Toward the end of 1G41 lie had petitioned the governor for permission to 
visit his kinsman, Opechancanough, and Cleopatre, his aunt. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 207 

rupeds ; deer abundant. The varieties of fruit were estimated at 
fifteen, and they were comparable to those of Italy. Twentv-five 
different kinds of trees were noticed, suitable for building ships, 
houses, etc. The vegetables were potatoes, asparagus, carrots, 
parsnips, onions, artichokes, peas, beans, and turnips, with a 
variety of garden herbs and medicinal flowers. Virginia (or In- 
dian) corn yielded five hundred fold ; it was planted like garden- 
peas ; it made good bread and furmity, and malt for beer, and 
was found to keep for seven years. It was planted in April or 
May, and ripened in five months. Bees, wild and domestic, 
supplied plenty of honey and wax. Indigo was made from the 
leaves of a small tree, and great hopes were entertained that Vir- 
ginia would in time come to supply all Christendom with the 
commodity which was then procured "from the Mogul's country." 
The Virginia tobacco was in high esteem, yet the crop raised was 
so large that the price was only about three pence, or six cents, 
a pound. A man could plant enough to make two thousand 
pounds, and also sufficient corn and vegetables for his own sup- 
port. The culture of hemp and flax had been commenced. 
Good iron-ore was found, and there were sanguine anticipations 
of the profits to be derived from that source. There were wind- 
mills and water-mills, horse-mills and hand-mills : a saw-mill was 
greatly needed, it being considered equivalent to the labor of 
twenty men. There came yearly to trade above thirty vessels, 
navigated by seven or eight hundred men. They brought linens, 
woollens, stockings, shoes, etc. They cleared in March, with re- 
turn cargoes of tobacco, staves, and lumber. Many of the masters 
and chief mariners of these vessels had plantations, houses, and 
servants, in the colony. Pinnaces, boats, and barges were 
numerous, the most of the plantations being situated on the 
banks of the rivers. Pitch and tar were made. Mulberry-trees 
abounded, and it was confidently believed that silk could be raised 
in Virginia as well as in France. Hopeful anticipations of 
making wine from the native grape were entertained, but have 
nevci- been realized. Virginia was now considered healthy; the 
colonists being so amply provided with the necessaries and com- 
forts of life, the number of deaths was believed to be less, propor- 
:lly, than in England. The voyage from England to Virginia 



208 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

occupied about six weeks; the outward-bound voyage averaging 
about twenty-five days. 

At this time a thousand colonists were seated upon the Acco- 
mac shore, near Cape Charles, where Captain Yeardley was chief 
commander. The settlement was then called Northampton; the 
name of Accomac having been changed in 1643 to Northampton, 
but the original name was afterwards restored. Lime was found 
abundant in Virginia; bricks were made, and already some 
houses built of them. Mechanics found profitable employment, 
such as turners, potters, coopers, sawyers, carpenters, tilemakers, 
boatwrights, tailors, shoemakers, tanners, fishermen, and the 
like. There were at this time twelve counties. The number of 
churches was twenty, each provided with a minister, and the doc- 
trine and orders after the Church of England. The ministers' 
livings were worth one hundred pounds, or five hundred dollars, 
per annum, paid in tobacco and corn. The colonists all lived in 
peace and love, happily exempt by distance from the horrors of 
civil war that convulsed the mother country. The Virginia 
planters were intending to make further discoveries to the south 
and west. A colony of Swedes had made a settlement on the 
banks of the Delaware River, within the limits of Virginia, and 
were carrying on a profitable traffic in furs. The Dutch had also 
planted a colony on the Hudson River, within the Virginia terri- 
tory, and their trade in furs amounted to ten thousand pounds 
per annum. Cape Cod was then looked upon as the point of de- 
marcation between Virginia and New England. Cattle, corn, 
and other commodities were shipped from Virginia to New Eng- 
land. Sir William Berkley had made an experiment in the cul- 
tivation of rice, and found that it produced thirty fold, the soil 
and climate being well adapted to it, as the negroes affirmed, 
who, in Africa, had subsisted mostly on that grain. There were 
now many thousands of acres of cleared land in Virginia, and 
about one hundred and fifty ploughs at work. Captain Brocas 
of the council, a great traveller, had planted a vineyard, and made 
excellent wine. 

At Christmas, 1647, there were in the James River ten vessels 
from London, two from Bristol, twelve from Holland, and seven 
from New England. Mr. Richard Bennet expressed twenty butts 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 209 

of excellent cider from apples of his own orchard. They began 
now to engraft on the crab-apple tree, which was found indi- 
genous. Another planter had for several years made, from pears 
of his own raising, forty or fifty butts of perry. The governor, 
Sir William Berkley, in his new orchard, had fifteen hundred 
fruit trees, besides his apricots, peaches, mellicotons, quinces, 
wardens, and the like. 

Captain Matthews, an old planter, of above thirty years' 
standing, one of the council, and "a most deserving common- 
wealth man," had a fine house, sowed much hemp and flax, and 
had it spun ; he kept weavers, and had a tannery, where leather 
was dressed; and had eight shoemakers at work; had forty negro 
servants, whom he brought up to mechanical trades; he sowed 
large crops of wheat and barley. The wheat he sold at four shil- 
lings (about a dollar) a bushel. He also supplied vessels trading 
in Virginia, with beef. He had a plenty of cows, a fine dairy, a 
large number of hogs and poultry. Captain Matthews married a 
daughter of Sir Thomas Hinton, and "kept a good house, lived 
bravely, and was a true lover of Virginia." 

There was a free school, with two hundred acres of land appur- 
tenant, a good house, forty milch cows, and other accommoda- 
tions. It was endowed by Mr. Benjamin Symms. There were, 
besides, some small schools in the colony, probably such as are 
now known as "old-field schools."* 

* Hening, i. 252. 

14 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

1648-1659. 

Beauchamp Plantagenet visits Virginia — Settlement of other Colonies — Dissent- 
ers persecuted and banished from Virginia — Some take refuge in Carolina ; 
some in Maryland — Charles the First executed — Commonwealth of England — 
Virginia Assembly denounces the Authors of the King's Death — Colonel Nor- 
wood's Voyage to Virginia — The Virginia Dissenters in Maryland — The Long 
Parliament prohibits Trade with Virginia — A Naval Force sent to reduce the 
Colony, Bennet and Clayborne being two of the Commissioners — Captain 
Dennis demands surrender of Virginia — Sir William Berkley constrained to 
yield — Articles of Capitulation. 

During the year 1648 Beauchamp Plantagenet, a royalist with 
a high-flown name, flying from the fury of the grand rebellion, 
visited America in behalf of a company of adventurers, in quest 
of a place of settlement, and in the course of his explorations 
came to Virginia. At Newport's News he was hospitably enter- 
tained by Captain Matthews, Mr. Fantleroy, and others, finding 
free quarter everywhere. The Indian war was now ended by the 
courage of Captain Marshall and the valiant Stillwell, and by the 
resolute march of Sir William Berkley, who had made the veteran 
Opechancanough prisoner. The explorer went to Chicaoen, on 
the Potomac, and found Maryland involved in war with the Sas- 
quesahannocks and other Indians, and at the same time in a civil 
war. Kent Island appeared to be too wet, and the water was bad.* 

In the month of March, 1648, Nickotowance, the Indian chief, 
visited Governor Berkley, at Jamestown, accompanied by five 
other chiefs, and presented twenty beaver skins to be sent to King 
Charles as tribute. About this time the Indians reported to Sir 
"William Berkley that within five days' journey to the southwest 
there was a high mountain, and at the foot of it great rivers that 
run into a great sea ; that men came hither in ships, (but not the 
same as the English ;) that they wore apparel, and had red caps 

* Description of New Albion, in Force's Hist. Tracts, ii. 

(210) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 211 

on their heads, and rode on beasts like horses, but with much 
longer ears. These people were probably the Spaniards. Sir 
William Berkley prepared to make an exploration with fifty horse 
and as many foot,* but he was disappointed in this enterprise. 

At this period the settlement of all the New England States 
had been commenced ; the Dutch possessed the present States of 
New York, New Jersey, and part of Connecticut, and they had 
already pushed their settlements above Albany; the Swedes oc- 
cupied the shores of Pennsylvania and Delaware; Maryland was 
still in her infancy ; Virginia was prosperous ; the country now 
known as the Carolinas belonged to the assignees of Sir Robert 
Heath, but as yet no advances had been made toward the occu- 
pation of it.f 

Upon complaint of the necessities of the people, occasioned by 
barren and over-wrought land, and want of range for cattle and 
hogs, permission was granted them to remove during the following 
year to the north side of Charles (York) and Rappahannock 

rivers.J 

The congregation of dissenters collected by the three mis- 
sionaries before mentioned from Massachusetts, amounted in 
1648 to one hundred and eighteen members. They encountered 
the continual opposition of the colonial authorities. Mr. Durand, 
their elder, had already been banished by the governor ; and in 
the course of this year their pastor, Harrison, being ordered to 
depart, retired to New England. On his arrival there he repre- 
sented that many of the Virginia council were favorably dis- 
posed toward the introduction of Puritanism, and that "one 
thousand of 'the people, by conjecture, were of a similar mind."§ 
The members of the council at that time were Captain John 
"West, Richard Kempe, secretary, Captain William Brocas, 
Captain Thomas Pettus, Captain William Bernard, Captain 
Henry Browne, and Mr. George Ludlow. When the pre- 

* Hening, i. 353. 

+ Martin's History of North Carolina, i. 105-6. This is a valuable work, but 
marred, especially in the first volume, by the unparalleled misprinting, the engage- 
ments of the author not permitting him to correct the proofs. 

% Force's Hist. Tracts, ii., "A New Description of Va." 

\ Hawks' Narrative, 57, citing Savage's Winthrop, ii. 334. 



212 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

valence of Puritanism in the mother country is considered, 
and the numerous ties of interest and consanguinity that con- 
nected it with the colony, the estimate of the number favora- 
bly disposed toward Puritanism does not appear improbable. 
John Hammond afterwards gave an account of the proceedings 
against the Puritans in Virginia.* According to him, during 
the reign of Charles the First, Virginia "was wholly for mo- 
narchy." A congregation of people calling themselves Inde- 
pendents having organized a church, (probably in Nansemond 
County,) and daily increasing, several consultations were held by 
the authorities of the colony how to suppress and extinguish them. 
At first their pastor was banished, next their other teachers, 
then many were confined in prison ; next they were generally dis- 
armed, which was a very harsh measure in such a country, where 
they were surrounded by the Indian savages ; lastly, the non-con- 
formists were put in a condition of banishment, so that they 
knew not how in those straits to dispose of themselves. The 
leader in this persecution, according to Hammond, was Colonel 
Samuel Matthews, member of the council in 1643, and subse- 
quently agent for Virginia to the parliament. A number of these 
dissenters having gained the consent of Lord Baltimore and his 
deputy governor of Maryland, retired to that colony, and settled 
there. Among these, one of the principal was Richard Bennet, a 
merchant and a Roundhead. For a time these refugees pros- 
pered and remained apparently content with their new place of 
abode; and others, induced by their example, likewise removed 
thither. 

King Charles the First, after having been a prisoner for several 
years, was beheaded in front of Whitehall Palace, on the 30th 
day of January, 1648. He died with heroic firmness and dig- 
nity. f The Commonwealth of England now commenced, and 
continued till the restoration of Charles the Second, in 1660. 
Upon the dissolution of the monarchy in England, there were 
not wanting those in Virginia who held that the colonial govern- 



* Leah and Rachel, in Force's Hist. Tracts, iii., Leah and Rachel representing 
the two sisters, Virginia and Maryland. 

•j- In the same year the Netherlands became independent. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 213 

ment, being derived from the crown, was itself now extinct; but 
the assembly, by an act of October of the same year, declared 
that whoever should defend the late traitorous proceedings against 
the king, should be adjudged an accessory after the fact, to his 
death, and be proceeded against accordingly; to asperse the late 
most pious king's memory was made an offence punishable at the 
discretion of the governor and council ; to express a doubt of the 
right of succession of Charles the Second, or to propose a change 
of government, or to derogate from the full power of the govern- 
ment of the colony, was declared to be high treason.* The prin- 
ciple, however, that the authority of the colonial government 
ceased with the king's death, was expressly recognized at the 
surrender of the colony to the parliamentary naval force in 1651. 
Colonel Norwood, a loyal refugee in Holland, having formed a 
plan with two comrades, Major Francis Morrison and Major 
Richard Fox, to seek their fortunes in Virginia, they met in 
London, August, 1649, for the purpose of embarking. At the 
time when they had first concerted their scheme, Charles the First 
was a prisoner at Carisbrook Castle, in the Isle of Wight. He 
had since been executed; the royalists, thunderstruck at this 
catastrophe, saw their last gleam of hope extinguished ; and Nor- 
wood and his friends were eager to escape from the scene of their 
disasters. At the Royal Exchange, whose name was now for a 
time to be altered to the "Great Exchange," the three forlorn 
cavaliers engaged a passage to Virginia in the "Virginia Mer- 
chant," burden three hundred tons, mounting thirty guns or 
more. The charge for the passage was six pounds a head, for 
themselves and servants. The colony of Virginia they deemed 
preferable for them in their straitened pecuniary circumstances; 
and they brought over some goods with them for the purpose of 
mercantile adventure. September the 23d, 1649, they embarked 
in the "Virginia Merchant," having on board three hundred and 
thirty souls. Touching at Fayal, Norwood and his companions 
met with a Portuguese lady of rank with her family returning, 
in an English ship, the "John," from the Brazils to her own 
country. With her they drank the healths of their kings, amid 

* Hening, i 3G0. 



214 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

thundering peals of cannon. The English gentlemen discovered a 
striking resemblance between the lady's son and their own prince, 
Charles, which filled them with fond admiration, and flattered the 
vanity of the beautiful Portuguese. Passing within view of the 
charming Bermuda, the "Virginia Merchant" sailing for Virgi- 
nia, struck upon a breaker early in November, near the stormy 
Cape Hatteras. Narrowly escaping from that peril, she was soon 
overtaken by a storm, and tossed by mountainous towering north- 
west seas. Amid the horrors of the evening prospect, Norwood 
observed innumerable ill-omened porpoises that seemed to cVver 
the surface of the sea as far as the eye could reach. The ship 
at length losing forecastle and mainmast, became a mere hulk, 
drifting at the mercy of the winds and waves. Some of the 
passengers were swept overboard by the billows that broke over 
her; the rest suffered the tortures of terror and famine. At last 
the tempest subsiding, the ship drifted near the coast of the East- 
ern Shore. Here Norwood and a party landing on an island, 
were abandoned by the Virginia Merchant. After enduring the 
extremities of cold and hunger, of which some died, Norwood 
and the survivors in the midst of the snow were rescued by a 
party of friendly Indians. In the mean while the ship having 
arrived in the James River, a messenger was dispatched by Go- 
vernor Berkley in quest of Norwood and his party. Conducted 
to the nearest plantation, they were everywhere entertained with 
the utmost kindness. Stejmen Charlton (afterwards, in 1652, 
burgess from Northampton County,) would have the Colonel to 
put on a good farmer-like suit of his own. After visiting Cap- 
tain Yeardley, (son of Sir George Yearclley, the former gover- 
nor,) the principal person in that quarter of the colony, Norwood 
crossed the Chesapeake Bay in a sloop, and landed at 'Squire 
Ludlow's plantation on York River. Next he proceeded to the 
neighboring plantation of Captain Ralph Wormley, at that time 
burgess from York County, and member -of his majesty's council. 
At Captain Wormley's he found some of his friends, who had 
likewise recently arrived from England, feasting and carousing. 
The cavaliers had changed their clime but not their habits. 
These guests were Sir Thomas Lundsford, Sir Henry Chicheley, 
(pronounced Chickley,) Sir Philip Honeywood, and Colonel Ham- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 215 

mond. Sir Thomas Lundsford lies buried in the churchyard of 
"Williamsburg. At Jamestown Norwood was cordially welcomed 
by Sir William Berkley, who took him to his house at Green- 
spring, where he remained for some months. Sir William, on 
many occasions, showed great respect to all the royal party who 
made that colony their refuge; and his house and purse were 
open to all such. To Major Fox, who had no other friend in the 
colony to look to for aid, he exhibited signal kindness ; to Major 
Morrison he gave command of the fort at Point Comfort, and by 
his interest afterwards advanced him to be governor of the colony. 
In 1650 Governor Berkley dispatched Norwood to Holland to 
find the fugitive king, and to solicit for the place of treasurer of 
Virginia, which Sir William took to be void by "the delin- 
quency" of William Clayborne, the incumbent, who had long 
held that place. The governor furnished Norwood with money 
to defray the charge of the solicitation, which was eifectual, 
although Prince Charles was not found in Holland, he having 
gone to Scotland. Charles the Second was crowned by the 
Scotch at Scone, in 1651.* 

Bennet and other dissenting Virginians, who had settled in 
Maryland, were not long there before they became dissatisfied 
with the proprietary government. The authority of Papists was 
irksome to Puritans, and they began to avow their aversion to 
the oath of allegiance imposed upon them; for by the teimis of 
it Lord Baltimore affected to usurp almost royal authority, con- 
cluding his commissions and writs with "We," "us," and "given 
under our hand and greater seal of arms, in such a year of our 
dominion." The Protestants of Maryland, no doubt saw, in the 
political character of the Commonwealth of England, a fair pros- 
pect of the speedy subversion of Baltimore's power; nor were 
they disappointed in this hope. 

In October, 1650, the Long Parliament passed an ordinance 
prohibiting trade with Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermuda, and An- 
tigua. The act recited that these colonies were, and of right 
ought to be, subject to the authority of Parliament; that divers 



* Force's Hist. Tracts, Hi.; Churchill's Voyages. A Major Norwood is men- 
tioned in Pepys' Diary, i. 4G. 



216 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

acts of rebellion had been committed by many persons inhabiting 
Virginia, whereby they have most traitorously usurped a power 
of government, and set themselves in opposition to this common- 
wealth. It therefore declared such persons notorious robbers and 
traitors; forbade all correspondence or commerce with them, and 
appointed commissioners, and dispatched Sir George Ayscue, with 
a powerful fleet and army, to reduce Barbadoes, Bermuda, and 
Antigua to submission. 

Charles the Second having invaded England at the head of a 
Scottish army, was utterly defeated and overthrown by Cromwell, 
at Worcester, September the 3d, 1651. Charles himself, not long 
after, with difficulty and in disguise, escaped to France. In Sep- 
tember of the same year the council of state, of which Bradshaw 
was president, issued instructions for Captain Robert Dennis, 
Mr. Richard Bennet, Mr. Thomas Steg,* and Captain William 
Clayborne, appointed commissioners, for the reducement of Vir- 
ginia and the inhabitants thereof, to their due obedience to the 
Commonwealth of Virginia. A fleet was put under command of 
Captain Dennis, and the commissioners embarked in the Guinea 
frigate. They were empowered to assure pardon and indemnity 
to all the inhabitants of the said plantations that shall submit 
unto the present government and authority, as it is established in 
the Commonwealth of England. In case they shall not submit 
by fair ways and means, the commissioners were to use all acts 
of hostility that lay in their power to enforce them ; and if they 
should find the people so to stand out as that they could by no 
other ways or means reduce them to their due obedience, they, or 
any two or more of them, whereof Captain Robert Dennis was to 
be one, had the power to appoint captains and other officers, and 
to raise forces within each of the aforesaid plantations, for the 
furtherance of the service; and such persons as should come in 
and serve as soldiers, if their masters should stand in opposition 
to the government of the English Commonwealth, might be dis- 
charged and set free from their masters, by the commissioners. 
A similar measure was adopted by Lord Dunmore in 1776. In 



* A Mr. Thomas Stagg was a resident planter of Virginia in 1G52. Hening, 
i. 375. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 217 

case of the death of Captain Dennis, his place was to be filled by 
Captain Edmund Curtis, commander of the Guinea frigate.* 
It is a mistake to suppose that the members of the Long Par- 
liament were all of them, or a majority of them, Puritans, in 
the religious sense of the term; but they were so in political 
principles. 

In March, 1652, Captain Dennis arrived at Jamestown, and 
demanded a surrender of the colony. It is said by some his- 
torians that Sir William Berkley, either with a hope of repelling 
them, or of commanding better terms, prepared for a gallant re- 
sistance, and undertook to strengthen himself by making use of 
several Dutch ships,f which happened to be there engaged in a 
contraband trade, and which he hired for the occasion ; that there 
chanced to be on board of the parliament's fleet some goods be- 
longing to two members of the Virginia council, and that Dennis 
sent them word that their goods should be forfeited if the colony 
was not immediately surrendered; and that the threat kindled 
dissensions in the council, and the governor found himself con- 
strained to yield on condition of a general amnesty.J 

Such is the account of several chroniclers, but it appears to be 
based only on a loose and erroneous tradition. It would have 
been a mere empty gasconade for Sir William Berkley to oppose 
the English naval force, and the truth appears to be, that as 
soon as the parliamentary squadron entered the Chesapeake Bay, 
all thoughts of resistance were laid aside. If the story of the 
preparation for resistance were credited, it must at the same time 
be believed that this chivalry and loyalty suddenly evaporated 
under the more potent influence of pecuniary interest. § 

The capitulation was ratified on the 12th of March, 1652, by 
which it was agreed that the Colony of Virginia should be subject 



* Virginia and Maryland, 18; Force's Hist. Tracts, ii. 

f Only one ship appears to have been confiscated. Hening, i. 382. 

J Chalmers' Annals, 123; Beverley, B. i. 54. 

\ Bancroft, Ilist. of U. S., i. 223, citing Clarendon, B. xiii. 4G6, and other 
authorities, says that the fleet was sent over by Cromwell, and came to Virginia 
after having reduced the West India Islands. Cromwell, however, although 
at this time the master-spirit of England, had not yet assumed dictatorial 
powers. 



218 IIISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

to the Commonwealth of England; that the submission should he 
considered voluntary, not forced nor constrained by a conquest 
upon the country; and that "they shall have and enjoy such 
freedoms and privileges as belong to the free-born people of Eng- 
land;" the assembly to meet as formerly, and transact the affairs 
of the colony, but nothing to be done contrary to the government 
of the Commonwealth of England ; full indemnity granted for all 
offences against the Parliament of England; Virginia to have and 
enjoy the ancient bounds and limits granted by the charters of 
former kings; "and that we shall seek a new charter from the 
Parliament to that purpose, against any that have entrenched 
upon the rights thereof," alluding no doubt to Lord Baltimore's 
intrusion into Maryland; that the privilege of having fifty acres 
of land for every person transported to the colony, shall continue 
as formerly granted; that the people of Virginia shall have free 
trade, as the people of England do enjoy, to all places, and with 
all nations, according to the laws of that Commonwealth; and 
that Virginia shall enjoy all privileges equally with any English 
plantation in America. 

The navigation act had been passed in the preceding October, 
forbidding any goods, wares, or merchandise, to be imported into 
England, except either in English ships, or in ships of the country 
where the commodities were produced — a blow aimed at the 
carrying-trade of the Dutch. It was further agreed by the 
articles of surrender, that Virginia was to be free from all taxes, 
customs, and impositions whatsoever, and none to be imposed on 
them without consent of the grand assembly ; and so that neither 
forts nor castles be erected, or garrisons maintained, without their 
consent : no charge to be made upon Virginia on account of this 
present fleet; the engagement or oath of allegiance to be ten- 
dered to all the inhabitants of Virginia; recusants to have a 
year's time to remove themselves and their effects out of Virginia, 
and in the mean time, during the said year, to have equal justice 
as formerly; the use of the Book of Common Prayer to be per- 
mitted for one year, with the consent of a majority of a parish, 
provided that those things which relate to kingship, or that 
government, be not used publicly; and ministers to be continued 
in their places, they not misdemeaning themselves; public ammu- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 219 

nition, powder and arms, to be given up, security being given to 
make satisfaction for them; goods already brought hither by the 
Dutch to remain unmolested ; the quit-rents granted by the late 
king to the planters of Virginia for seven years, to be confirmed; 
finally, the parliamentary commissioners engage themselves and 
the honor of the Parliament for the full performance of the 
articles, the governor and council and burgesses making the 
same pledge for the colony.* 

On the same day some other articles were ratified by the 
commissioners and the governor and council, exempting the 
governor and council from taking the oath of allegiance for a 
year, and providing that they should not be censured for pray- 
ing for, or speaking well of the king, for one whole year in 
their private houses, or "neighboring conference;" Sir William 
Berkley was permitted to send an agent to give an account to 
his majesty of the surrender of the country; Sir William and 
the members of the council were permitted to dispose of their 
estates, and transport themselves "whither they please." Pro- 
tection of liberty and property were guaranteed to Sir William 
Berkley. 

Major Fox, (comrade of Norwood,) commander of the fort, at 
Point Comfort, was allowed compensation for the building of his 
house on Fort Island. A general amnesty was granted to the 
inhabitants, and it was agreed that in case Sir William or his 
councillors should go to London, or any other place in England, 
that they should be free from trouble or hindrance of arrests, or 
such like, and that they may prosecute their business there for 
six months. It would seem that some important articles of 
surrender were 'not ratified by the Long Parliament. 

The Fourth Article was, " That Virginia shall have and enjoy 
the ancient bounds and limits granted by the charters of the 
former kings, and that we shall seek a new charter from the 
Parliament to that purpose, against any that entrenched against 
the rights thereof." This article was referred in August, 1652, 
to the committee of the navy, to consider what patent was fit to 
be granted to the inhabitants of Virginia. 

* IJening, i. 3G3. 



220 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

The Seventh Article was, "That the people of Virginia have 
free trade, as the people of England do enjoy, to all places and 
with all nations, according to the laws of that commonwealth; 
and that Virginia shall enjoy all privileges equal with any Eng- 
lish plantations in America." The latter clause was referred to 
the same committee. 

The Eighth Article was, " That Virginia shall be free from all 
taxes, customs, and impositions, whatsoever, and none to be im- 
posed on them without consent of the grand assembly, and so that 
neither forts nor castles be erected, or garrisons maintained, with- 
out their consent." This was also referred to the navy com- 
mittee, together with several papers relative to the disputes 
between Virginia and Maryland. The committee made a report 
in December, which seems merely confined to the Fourth Article, 
relative to the question of boundary and the contest with Lord 
Baltimore. In the ensuing July the Long Parliament was dis- 
solved.* 

The articles of surrender were subscribed by Richard Bennet, 
William Clayborne, and Edmund Curtis, commissioners in behalf 
of the Parliament. Bennet, a merchant and Roundhead, driven 
from Virginia by the persecution of Sir William Berkley's ad- 
ministration, had taken refuge in Maryland. Having gone thence 
to England, his Puritanical principles and his knowledge of the 
colonies of Virginia and Maryland, had recommended him for the 
place of commissioner. Clayborne, too, who had formerly been 
obliged to fly to England, and whose office of treasurer of Vir- 
ginia Sir William Berkley had held to be forfeited by delinquency, 
and which the fugitive Charles had bestowed on Colonel Nor- 
wood — this impetuous and indomitable Clayborne was another of 



* "Virginia and Maryland," Force's Hist. Tracts, ii. 20, in note. Mr. Force, 
•whose researches have brought to light such a magazine of curious and instruc- 
tive historical materials, appears to have been the first to mention the non-ratifi- 
cation of some of the articles of surrender. He says: "Three of the articles 
were not confirmed," and therefore did not receive the last formal and final and 
definitive ratification which Burk [Hist, of Va., ii. 92,] supposes they did. But 
it appears that Burk referred only to the ratification by the parties at James- 
town, and had no reference to the ulterior confirmation by the Parlia- 
ment. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 221 

the commissioners sent to reduce the colonies within the Chesa- 
peake Bay. 

A new era was now opening in these two colonies; and the 
prominent parts which Bennet and Clayborne were destined 
to perform in this novel scene, exhibit a signal example of the 
vicissitudes of human fortune. The drama that was enacted in 
the mother country was repeated on a miniature theatre in the 
colonies. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

1653-1650. 

Bennet and Clayborne reduce Maryland — Cromwell's Letter — Provisional Go- 
vernment organized in Virginia — Bennet made Governor — William Clayborne 
Secretary of State — The Assembly — Counties represented — Cromwell dis- 
solves the Long Parliament, and becomes Lord Protector — Sir William Berk- 
ley — Francis Yeardley's Letter to John Ferrar — Discovery in Carolina — 
Roanoke Indians visit Yeardley — He purchases a large Territory — William 
Hatcher — Stone, Deputy Governor of Maryland, defies the Authority of the 
Commissioners Bennet and Clayborne — They seize the Government and entrust 
it to Commissioners — Battle ensues — The Adherents of Baltimore defeated — 
Several prisoners executed — Cromwell's Letters — The Protestants attack the 
Papists on the Birth-day of St. Ignatius. 

Not long after the surrender of the Ancient Dominion of Vir- 
ginia, Bennet and Clayborne, commissioners, embarking in the 
Guinea frigate, proceeded to reduce Maryland. After effecting 
a reduction of the infant province, they, with singular moderation, 
agreed to a compromise with those who held the proprietary go- 
vernment under Lord Baltimore. Stone, the governor, and the 
council, part of them Papists, none well affected to the Common- 
wealth of England, were allowed, until further instructions should 
be received, to retain their places, on condition of issuing all writs 
in the name of the Keepers of the Liberty of England.* Sir 
William Berkley, upon the surrender of the colony, betook him- 
self into retirement in Virginia, where he remained free from 
molestation; and his house continued to be a hospitable place of 
resort for refugee cavaliers. There was, no doubt, before the sur- 
render, a considerable party in Virginia, who either secretly or 
openly sympathized with the parliamentary party in England; 
and upon the reduction of the colony these adherents of the 
Commonwealth found their influence much augmented. 

* "Virginia and Maryland," 11, 34; Force's Hist. Tracts, ii. ; Chalmers' 
Annals, 221. 

(222) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 223 

On the 80th of April, 1652, Bennet and Clayborne, commis- 
sioners, together with the burgesses of Virginia, organized a pro- 
visional government, subject to the control of the Commonwealth 
of England. Richard Bennet, who had been member of the 
council in 164G, nephew of an eminent London merchant largely 
engaged in the Virginia trade,* was made governor, April 30, 
1652; and William Clayborne, secretary of state for the colony. 
The council appointed consisted of Captain John West, Colonel 
Samuel Matthews, Colonel Nathaniel Littleton, Colonel Argal 
Yeardley, Colonel Thomas Pettus, Colonel Humphrey Higginson, 
Colonel George Ludlow, Colonel William Barnett,f Captain 
Bridges Ereeman, Captain Thomas Harwood, Major William 
Taylor, Captain Francis Eppes, and Lieutenant-Colonel John 
Cheesman. The governor, secretary, and council were to have 
such power and authorities to act from time to time as should be 
appointed and granted by the grand assembly. J The government 
of the mother country was entitled "the States," as the United 
States are now styled in Canada. The act organizing the provisional 
government concludes with: "God save the Commonwealth of 
England, and this country of Virginia." The governor and council- 
lors were allowed to be, ex-officio, members of the assembly. On 
the fifth day of May, this body, while claiming the right to appoint 
all officers for the colony, yet for the present, in token of their 
implicit confidence in the commissioners, referred all the appoint- 
ments not already made to the governor and them. The adminis- 
triition of Virginia was now, for the first time, Puritan and Republi- 
can. The act authorizing the governor and council to appoint the 
colonial officers was renewed in the following year. The oath ad- 
ministered to the burgesses was: "You and every of you shall 
swear upon the holy Evangelist, and in the sight of God, to deliver 
your opinions faithfully and honestly, according to your best un- 
derstanding and conscience, for the general good and prosperity 
of the country, and every particular member thereof, and to do 
your utmost endeavor to prosecute that without mingling with it 
any particular interest of any person or persons whatsoever." 



* Stith's Hist, of Va., 199. f Properly Bernard: see Hening, i. 408. 

% Hening, i. 372. 



224 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

The governor and members of the council were declared to be 
entitled to seats in the assembly, and were required to take the 
same oath. This assembly, which met on the 26th of April, 
1652, appears to have sat about ten days. There were thirty-five 
burgesses present from twelve counties, namely : Henrico, Charles 
City, James City, Isle of Wight, Nansemond, (originally called 
Nansimum,) Lower Norfolk, Elizabeth City, Warwick, York, 
Northampton, Northumberland, and Gloucester — Lancaster not 
being represented.* Rappahannock County was formed from the 
upper part of Lancaster in 1656. 

At the commencement of the ensuing session of the assembly, 
which met in October, 1652, Mr. John Hammond, returned a 
burgess from Isle of Wight County, was expelled from the assem- 
bly as being notoriously a scandalous person, and a frequent dis- 
turber of the peace of the country by libel and other illegal 
practices. He had passed nineteen years in Virginia, and now 
retired to Maryland; he was the author of the pamphlet entitled 
"Leah and Rachel."f Mr. James Pyland, another burgess, re- 
turned from the same county, was expelled, and committed to 
answer such charges as should be brought against him as an abet- 
tor of Mr. Thomas Woodward, in his mutinous and rebellious de- 
claration, and concerning his the said Mr. Pyland' s blasphemous 
catechism. These offenders appear to have been of the royalist 
party. 

In the year 1653 there were fourteen counties in Virginia, 
Surry being now mentioned for the first time, and the num- 
ber of burgesses was thirty-four. The people living on the bor- 
ders of the Appomattox River were authorized to hold courts, 

* Gloucester and Lancaster Counties are now named for the first time ; when 
or how they were formed, does not appear. Sir William Berkley was of Glouces- 
tershire, England. The name of Warrasqueake was changed to Isle of Wight in 
1637, and first represented in 1642. In that year Charles River was changed to 
York, and Warwick River to Warwick. The boundaries of Upper and Lower 
Norfolk were fixed in 1642; and Upper Norfolk was changed to'Nansimuni 
(afterwards Nansemond) in 1646. Northumberland is first mentioned in 1645; 
Westmoreland in 1653; Surry, Gloucester, and Lancaster in 1652. New Kent 
was first represented in 1654, being taken from the upper part of York County. 
(McSherm/s Hist, of Maryland.) 

■j- Force's Hist. Tracts, iii. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 225 

and to treat with, the Indians. Colonel William Clayborne, Cap- 
tain Henry Fleet, and Major Abram Wood were empowered to 
make discoveries to the west and south. In July, some difference 
occurred between the governor and council on the one side, and 
the house of burgesses on the other, relative to the election of 
speaker. The affair was amicably arranged, the governor's views 
being assented to. Bennet appears to have enjoyed the confi- 
dence of the Virginians. He was too generous to retaliate upon 
Sir William Berkley and the royalists who had formerly perse- 
cuted him. Some malecontents were punished for speaking disre- 
spectfully of him, and refusing to pay the castle duties. From the 
charges brought against one of these, it appears that the Virginians 
considered themselves, under the articles of surrender, entitled to 
free trade with all the world, the navigation act to the contrary 
notwithstanding; and that act does not appear to have been en- 
forced against Virginia during the Commonwealth of England.* 
By the articles of surrender the use of the prayer-book was per- 
mitted, with the consent of a majority of the people of the parish, 
for one year; so that it would seem that its use was prohibited 
after March 12th, 1653; but the prohibition was not enforced, 
and public worship continued as before without interruption. f In 
April, 1653, Ol iver Cromw ell dissolved the Long Parliament, and 
in December, in th e same j ear, assumed the office of Lord Pro- 
tector of the Com monweal th of England, Scotland, and Ireland. 
Owing to the war with Holland, Sir William Berkley's departure 
from Virginia was delayed, and, in conformity with the articles of 
convention of 1651, he now became subject to arrest. But the 
assembly passed an act, stating that as the war between England 
and Holland had prevented the confirmation of the convention of 
1651, in England, or the coming of a ship out of Holland, and Sir 
William Berkley desiring a longer time, namely, eight months 
further, to procure a ship out of Flanders, in respect of the war 
with Holland, and that he should be exempted from impost duty 
on such tobacco as he should lade in her; "it is condescended 
that his request shall be granted." Some seditious disturbances 
having taken place in Northampton County, on the Eastern 

* Burk, ii. 97 f Virginia's Cure, p. 19, in Force's Hist. Tracts, iii. 

15 



226 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Shore, in which Edmund Scarburgh was a ringleader, it was found 
necessary for Governor Bennet, Secretary Clayborne, and a party 
of gentlemen, to repair thither for the purpose of restoring order. 
Roger Green, and others, living on the Nansemond River, re- 
ceived a grant of land on condition of their settling the country 
bordering on the Moratuck or Roanoke River,* and on the south 
side of the Chowan. Divers gentlemen requesting permission, 
were authorized, in 1653, to explore the mountains. The ship 
Leopoldus, of Dunkirk, was confiscated for the use of the Com- 
monwealth of England, for violating the navigation act ; and the 
proceeds, amounting to four hundred pounds sterling, were given 
to Colonel Samuel Matthews, agent for Virginia at the court of 
the Protector, Colonel William Clayborne, secretary, and other 
officers, in return for their services in the matter of the forfeited 
ship. 

Captain Francis Yearclley, who has been mentioned before, was 
a son of Sir George Yeardley, some time governor of Virginia, 
and Lady Temperance, his wife, and was born in Virginia. A 
letter dated in May, 1654, was addressed by him to John Ferrar, 
at Little Gidding, in Huntingdonshire, brother to Nicholas Fer- 
rar, whose name is so honorably connected with the early annals 
of Virginia. The younger Yeardley describes the country as very 
fertile, flourishing in all the exuberance of nature, abounding 
especially in the rich mulberry and vine, with a serene air and tem- 
perate clime, and rich in precious minerals. A young man en- 
gaged in the beaver trade having been accidentally separated 
from his own sloop, had obtained a small boat and provisions from 
Yeardley, and had gone with his party to Roanoke, at which 
island he hoped to find his vessel. He there fell in with a hunt- 
ing party of Indians, and persuaded them and some of the other 
tribes, both in the island and on the mainland, to go back with 
him and make peace with the English. He brought some of these 
Indians with the great man, or chief of Roanoke, to Yeard- 
ley's house, which was probably on the Eastern Shore, where his 



* Called Moratuck or Moratoc above the falls, and Roanoke below. Roanoke 
signifies "shell:" Roanoko and Wampumpeake were terms for Indian shell- 
money. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 227 

father had lived before him. The Indians passed a week at 
Yeardley's. While there, the "great man" observing Yeardley's 
children reading and writing, inquired of him whether he would 
take his only son, and teach him "to speak out of the book, and 
make a writing." Yeardley assured him that he would willingly 
do so ; and the chief at his departure expressing his strong desire 
to serve the God of the Englishmen, and his hope that his child 
might be brought up in the knowledge of the same, promised to 
bring him back again in four months. In the mean time Yeardley 
had been called away to Maryland; and the planters of the Eastern 
Shore suspecting, from the frequent visits and inquiries of the In- 
dian, that Yeardley was carrying on some scheme for his own pri- 
vate advantage, were disposed to maltreat the chief. Upon one 
occasion, when Yeardley's wife had brought him to church with her, 
some over-busy justices of the peace, after sermon, threatened to 
whip him, and send him away. The "great man" being terrified, 
the lady taking him by the hand, resolutely stood forth in his de- 
fence, and pledged her whole property, as a guarantee, that no 
harm to the settlement was intended, or was likely to arise from 
the Indian's alliance. Upon Yeardley's return from Maryland, 
he dispatched, with his brother's assistance, a boat with six men, 
one being a carpenter, to build the great man an English house ; 
and two hundred pounds for the purchase of Indian territory. 
The terms of the purchase were soon agreed upon, and Yeard- 
ley's people "paid for three great rivers and also all such others 
as they should like of, southerly." In due form they took pos- 
session of the country in the name of the Commonwealth of 
England, receiving as a symbol of its surrender, a turf of earth 
with an arrow shot into it. The territory thus given up by the 
Indians was a considerable part of what afterwards became the 
province of North Carolina. As soon as the natives had with- 
drawn from it to a region farther south, Yeardley built the great 
commander a handsome house, which he promised to fit up with 
English utensils and furniture. 

Yeardley's people were introduced to the chief of the Tusca- 

roras, who received them courteously, and invited them to visit 

country, of which he gave an attractive account; but his offer 

could not be accepted, owing to the illness of their interpreter. 



228 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Upon the completion of his house, the Roanoke chief came, "with 
the Tuscarora chief and forty-five others, to Yeardley's house, 
presented his wife and son and himself for baptism, and offered 
again the same symbol of the surrender of his whole country to 
Yearclley ; and he in his turn tendering the same to the Common- 
wealth of England, prayed only "that his own property and pains 
might not be forgotten." The Indian child was presented to the 
minister before the congregation, and having been baptized in 
their presence, was left with Yeardley to be bred a Christian, 
"which God grant him grace (he prays) to become." The 
charges incurred by Yeardley in purchasing and taking posses- 
sion of the country, had already amounted to three hundred 
pounds.* 

At the meeting of the assembly in November, 1654, William 
Hatcher being convicted of having stigmatized Colonel Edward 
Hill, speaker of the house, as an atheist and blasphemer, (from 
which charges he had been before acquitted by the quarterly 
court,) was compelled to make acknowledgment of his offence, upon 
his knees, before Colonel Hill and the assembly. This Hatcher 
appears to have been a burgess of Henrico County in 1652. More 
than twenty years afterwards, in his old age, he was fined eight 
thousand pounds of pork, for the use of the king's soldiers, on 
account of alleged mutinous words uttered shortly after Bacon's 
rebellion. 

Upon the dissolution of the Long Parliament and the establish- 
ment of the Protectorate, Lord Baltimore took measures to re- 
cover the absolute control of Maryland; and Stone, (who since 
June, 1652, had continued in the place of governor of Maryland,) 
in obedience to instructions received from his lordship, violated 
the terms of the agreement, which had been arranged with Ben- 
net and Clayborne, acting in behalf of the Parliament, and set 
them at defiance. These commissioners having addressed a letter 
to Stone proposing an interview, he refused to accede to it, and 
gave it as his opinion, that they were "wolves in sheep's clothing." 
Bennet and Clayborne, claiming authority derived from his High- 



* Anderson's Hist, of Col. Church, ii. 506. The letter is preserved in Thurloe's 
State Papers, xi. 273. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 229 

ness the Lord Protector, seized the government of the province, 
and entrusted it to a board of ten commissioners.* 

When Lord Baltimore received intelligence of this proceeding, 
he wrote to his deputy, (Stone,) reproaching him with cowardice, 
and peremptorily commanded him to recover the colony by force 
of arms. Stone and the Marylanders now accordingly fell to 
arms, and disarmed and plundered those that would not accept 
the oath of allegiance to Baltimore. The province contained, as 
has been mentioned before, among its inhabitants a good many 
emigrants from Virginia of Puritan principles, and these dwelt 
mainly on the banks of the Severn and the Patuxent, and on the 
Isle of Kent. They were disaffected to the proprietary govern- 
ment, and protested that they had removed to Maryland, under 
the express engagement with Governor Stone, that they should 
enjoy freedom of conscience, and be exempt from the obnoxious 
oath. These recusants now took up arms to defend themselves, 
and civil war raged in infant Maryland. Stone, to reduce the 
malecontents, embarking for Providence with his men, landed on 
the neck, at the mouth of the Severn. Here, on the 25th of 
March, 1654, he was attacked by the Protestant adherents of 
Bennet and Clayborne, and utterly defeated ; the prisoners being 
nearly double of the number of the victors, twenty killed, many 
wounded, and "all the place strewed with Papist beads where 
they fled." 

During the action, a New England vessel seized the boats, pro- 
vision, and ammunition of the governor and his party. Among 
the prisoners was this functionary, who had been "shot in many 
places." Several of the prisoners were condemned to death by a 
court-martial; and four of the principal, one of them a councillor, 
were executed on the spot. Captain William Stone, likewise 
sentenced, owed his escape to the intercession of some women, 
and of some of Bennet and Clayborne's people.f John Ham- 
mond, (the same who had been, two years before, expelled from 
the Virginia Assembly,) also one of the condemned, fled in dis- 
guise, and escaped to England in the ship Crescent. The master 



* "Virginia and Maryland," Force's Hist. Tracts, ii. 

f " Leah and Rachel," Force's Hist. Tracts, iii. ; Chalmer's Annals, 222. 



280 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

of this vessel was afterwards heavily fined by the Virginia as- 
sembly for carrying off Hammond without a pass. Of the four 
that were shot, three were Romanists; and the Jesuit fathers, 
hotly pursued, escaped to Virginia, where they inhabited a mean 
low hut.* 

Thus Maryland became subject to the Protectorate. The ad- 
ministration of the Puritan commissioners was rigorous, and the 
Maryland assembly excluded Papists from the pale of religious 
freedom. Such were even Milton's views of toleration ;f but 
Cromwell, the master-spirit of his age, soared higher, and com- 
manded the commissioners "not to busy themselves about religion, 
but to settle the civil government." He addressed the following 
letter, dated at Whitehall, in January, 1654, to Richard Bennet, 
Esq., Governor of Virginia: — 

"Sir: — Whereas, the differences between the Lord Baltimore 
and the inhabitants of Virginia, concerning the bounds by them 
respectively claimed, are depending before our council and yet 
undetermined ; and whereas, we are credibly informed you have, 
notwithstanding, gone into his plantation in Maryland, and coun- 
tenanced some people there in opposing the Lord Baltimore's 
officers ; whereby and with other forces from Virginia, you have 
much disturbed that colony and people, to the engendering of 
tumults and much bloodshed there, if not timely prevented : 

" We, therefore, at the request of the Lord Baltimore and divers 
other persons of quality here, who are engaged by great adven- 
tures in his interest, do, for preventing of disturbances or tumults 
there, will and require you, and all others deriving any authority 
from you, to forbear disturbing the Lord Baltimore, or his officers, 
or people in Maryland, and to permit all things to remain as they 
were before any disturbance or alteration made by you, or by 
any other, upon pretence of authority from you, till the said dif- 
ferences, above mentioned, be determined by us here, and we give 
farther order herein. 

"We rest, your loving friend, 

"OLIVER, P." 

* White's Relation, 44, in Force's Hist. Tracts, iv. 
-j- Milton's Prose Works, ii. 346. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 231 

Cromwell was now endeavoring to heal the wounds of civil war, 
to allay animosities, and to strengthen his power by a generous 
and conciliatory policy, blended with irresistible energy of action. 
In return for Lord Baltimore's ready submission to his authority, 
the Protector apparently recognized his proprietary rights in 
Maryland, yet at the same time, he sustained and protected his 
commissioners, only curbing the violent contest that had arisen 
between Virginia and Maryland respecting their boundary. His 
policy as to the internal government of these colonies was one of 
a masterly inactivity. 

"To the Commissioners of Maryland. 

"Whitehall, 26th September, 1655. 

" Sirs : — It seems to us, by yours of the twenty-ninth of June, 
and by the relation we received by Colonel Bennet, that some 
mistake or scruple hath arisen concerning the sense of our letters 
of the twelfth of January last ; as if by our letters we had inti- 
mated that we should have a stop put to the proceedings of those 
commissioners who were authorized to settle the civil government 
of Maryland. Which was not at all intended by us; nor so 
much as proposed to us by those who made addresses to us to 
obtain our said letter. But our intention (as our said letter doth 
plainly import) was only to prevent and forbid any force or vio- 
lence to be offered by either of the plantations of Virginia or Mary- 
land, from one to the other, upon the differences concerning their 
bounds, the said differences being then under the consideration 
of ourself and council here. Which, for your more full satisfac- 
tion, we have thought fit to signify to you, and rest 

"Your loving friend, 

"OLIVER, P."* 

Remembering, however, Lord Baltimore's ready submission 
to his authority, he nominally, at the least, restored him to his 
control over the province. 

It was the custom of the Maryland Romanists to celebrate, by 
a salute of cannon, the thirty-first of July, the birth-day of St. 

* Carlyle's Cromwell, ii. 182. 



232 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

Ignatius, (Loyola,) Maryland's patron saint. On the 1st of 
August, 1656, the day following the anniversary, a number of 
Protestant soldiers, aroused by the nocturnal report of the can- 
non, issued from their fort, five miles distant, rushed upon the 
habitations of the Papists, broke into them, and plundered what- 
ever there was found of arms or powder. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

1655-165S. 

Digges elected Governor — Bennet goes to England the Colony's Agent — Colo- 
nel Edward Hill defeated by the Ricahecrians — Totopotomoi, with many War- 
riors, slain — Miscellaneous matters — Matthews Elected Governor — Letter to 
the Protector — Acts of Assembly — Magna Charta recognized as in force — Go- 
vernor and Council excluded from Assembly — Matthews declares a Dissolution 
— The House resists — Dispute referred to the Protector — Declaration of So- 
vereignty — Matthews re-elected — Council newly reorganized — Edward Hill 
elected Speaker — Rules of the House. 

In March, 1655, Edward Digges was elected by the assembly 
governor of the colony of Virginia. He was of an ancient and 
distinguished family, and had been made a member of the coun- 
cil in November, 1654, "he having given a signal testimony of 
his fidelity to this colony and Commonwealth of England." He 
succeeded Bennet, who had held the office since April, 1652, and 
who was now appointed the. colony's agent at London. 

In the year 1656, six or seven hundred Ricahecrian Indians 
having come down from the mountains, and seated themselves 
near the falls of the James River, Colonel Edward Hill, the 
elder, was put in command of a body of men, and ordered to dis- 
lodge them. He was reinforced by Totopotomoi, chief of Pa- 
munkey, with one hundred of his tribe. A creek enclosing a 
peninsula in Hanover County, retains the name of Totopotomoy; 
and Butler, in Hudibras, alludes to this chief: — 

" The mighty Tottipotimoy 
Sent to our elders an envoy, 
Complaining sorely of the breach 
Of league held forth by brother Patch." 

Hill was disgracefully defeated, and the brave Totopotomoi, 
With the greater part of his warriors, slain. It appears probable 
that Bloody Run, near Richmond, derived its name from this san- 
guinary battle. The action in which so many Indians were after- 

(233) 



234 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

wards massacred by Bacon and his men, and with which a loose 
tradition has identified Bloody Run, did not occur near the falls 
of the James River. Hill, in consequence of his bad conduct in 
this affair, was subsequently, by unanimous vote of the council 
and the house of burgesses, condemned to pay the expenses of 
effecting a peace with the Indians, and was disfranchised.* 
During this year an act was passed allowing all free men the 
right of voting for burgesses, on the ground that "it is something 
hard and unagreeable to reason that any persons shall pay equal 
taxes, and yet have no votes in elections." So republican was 
the elective franchise in Virginia, under the Protectorate of Oliver 
Cromwell two centuries ago ! In this year, 1656, Colonel Thomas 
Dew, of Nansemond, sometime before speaker of the house of 
burgesses, and others, were authorized to explore the country 
between Cape Hatteras and Cape Fear. The County of Nanse- 
mond had long abounded with non-conformists. 

The salary of the governor, as ordered at this time, consisted 
of twenty-five thousand pounds of tobacco, worth two hundred 
and fifty pounds sterling, together with certain duties levied from 
masters of vessels, called castle duties, and marriage license 
fees. A reward of twenty pounds was offered to any one who 
should import a minister ; ministers, with six servants each, were 
exempted from taxes, it being provided that they should be 
examined by Mr. Philip Mallory and Mr. John Green, and should 
be recommended by them to the governor and council, who were 
invested with discretionary control of the matter. f Letters were 
sent to Matthews, Virginia's agent at the Protector's court, 
directing him to suspend for the present the further prosecution 
of the long and fruitless controversy with Lord Baltimore re- 
specting the disputed boundary.^ Matthews, returning from 
England, was elected by the assembly to succeed Digges in the 
office of governor, who was now employed as agent. Colonel 
Francis Morrison, speaker, was desired by the assembly to write 
a letter to the Protector, and another to the secretary of state, 
which was as follows : — 

* Hening, i. 402, 422; Burk's Hist, of Va., ii. 107. f Hening, i. 4^4. 

J Burk's Hist, of Va., ii. 11G. An Armenian was imported by Digges for the 
purpose of making silk. 



ancient dominion of virginia. 235 

"May it please your Highness, — 

"We could not find a fitter means to represent the condition of 
this country to your highness, than this worthy person, Mr. Digges, 
our late governor, whose occasions calling him into England, we 
have instructed him with the state of this place as he left it; we 
shall beseech your highness to give credit to his relations, which we 
assure ourselves shall be faithful, having had many experiences of 
his candor in the time of his government, which he hath managed 
under your highness, with so much moderation, prudence, and jus- 
tice, that we should be much larger in expressing this truth, but 
that we fear to have already too much trespassed, by interrupting 
your highness' most serious thoughts in greater affairs than what 
can concern your highness' most humble, most devoted servants. 
"Dated from the Assembly of Virginia, 15th December, 1656." 
Superscribed, for his "Highness, the Lord Protector." 

The letter to the secretary of state was as follows : — 
"Right Honorable, — 

" Though we are persons so remote from you, we have heard so 
honorable a character of your worth, that we cannot make a se- 
cond choice without erring, of one so fit and proper as yourself to 
make our addresses to his Highness, the Lord Protector. Our de- 
sires we have intrusted to that worthy gentleman, Mr. Digges, our 
late governor ; we shall desire you would please to give him ac- 
cess to you and by your highness. And as we promise you will 
find nothing but worth in him, so we are confident he will under- 
take for us that we are a people not altogether ungrateful, but 
will find shortly a nearer way than by saying so, to express really 
how much we esteem the honor of your patronage, which is both 
the hopes and ambition of your very humble and then obliged 
servants. 

"From the Assembly of Virginia, 15th December, 1656." 

Superscribed, to the " Right Honorable John Thurlow, Secretary 
of State." 

The allusion in the close of the letter appears to be to a douceur 
which it was intended to present to the secretary. 

Digges was instructed to unite with Matthews and Bennet, in J/ 
London, and to treat with the leading merchants in the Virginia 



236 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

trade, and to let them know how much the assembly had endea- 
vored to diminish the quantity, and improve the quality of the 
tobacco; and to see what the merchants, on their part, would be 
willing to do in giving a better price; for if the planters should 
find that the bad brought as high a price as the good, they would 
of course raise that which could be raised the most easily.* It 
appears that Digges was appointed agent conjointly with Bennet. 
Matthews was elected by the assembly to succeed Digges as go- 
vernor; but the latter was requested to hold the office as long as 
he should remain in Virginia. Digges departing for 'England 
toward the close of 1655, would appear to have co-operated for a 
short while with both Matthews and Bennet. By a singular coin- 
cidence, Digges, Matthews, and Bennet, who were the first three 
governors of Virginia under the Commonwealth of England, 
were transferred from the miniature metropolis, Jamestown, and 
found themselves together near the court of his Highness the Lord 
Protector, Oliver Cromwell. 

Digges was succeeded as governor by Matthews, early in the 
year 1656. The laws of the colony were revised, and reduced 
into one volume, comprising one hundred and thirty-one acts, 
well adapted to the wants of the people and the condition of the 
country. Of the transactions from 1656 to 1660, the year of the 
restoration, Burk says there is an entire chasm in the records; 
Hening, on the contrary, declares that, "in no portion of the 
colonial records under the Commonwealth, are the materials so 
copious as from 1656 to 1660." The editor of the Statutes at 
Large is the better authority on this point. 

The church government was settled by giving the people the 
entire control of the vestry ; while the appointment of ministers and 
church wardens, the care of the poor, and parochial matters, were 
entrusted to the people of each parish. An act was passed for 
the keeping holy the Sabbath, and another against divulgers of 
false news. The ordinary weight of a hogshead of tobacco at 
this time did not exceed three hundred and fifty pounds, and its 
dimensions by law were forty-three inches long and twenty-six 
wide. Letters, superscribed "For the Public Service," were 

* Burk's Hist, of Va., u. 116. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 237 

ordered to be conveyed from one plantation to another, to the 
place of destination. A remedy was provided for servants com- 
plaining of harsh usage, or of insufficient food or raiment. The 
penalty for selling arms or ammunition to the Indians was the 
forfeiture of the offender's whole estate. It was enacted that no 
sheriff, or deputy sheriff, then called under-sheriff, should hold 
his office longer than one year in any one county. The penalty 
of being reduced to servitude was abolished. The twenty-second 
day of March and the eighteenth of April were still kept as holy 
days, in commemoration of the deliverance of the colonists from 
the bloody Indian massacres of 1622 and 1644. The planters 
were prohibited from encroaching upon the lands of the Indians. 
The vessels of all nations were admitted into the ports of Vir- 
ginia; and an impost duty of ten shillings a hogshead was laid 
on all tobacco exported, except that laden in English vessels, and 
bound directly for England; from the payment of which duty 
vessels belonging to Virginians were afterwards exempted. An 
act was passed to prohibit the kidnapping of Indian children. 

In the year 1656 all acts against mercenary attorneys were 
repealed ; but two years afterwards attorneys were again expelled 
from the courts,* and no one was suffered to receive any compen- 
sation for serving in that capacity. The governor and council 
made serious opposition to this act, and the following communica- 
tion was made to the house of burgesses: "The governor and 
council will consent to this proposition so far as shall be agreeable 
to Magna Charta. Wm. Clayborne." The burgesses replied, 
that they could not see any such prohibition contained in Magna 
Charta; that two former assemblies had passed such a law, and 
that it had stood in force upwards of ten years. It thus appears 
that Magna Charta was held to be in force in the colony. 

The ground leaves of tobacco, or lugs, were declared to be not 
merchantable; and it was ordered that no tobacco should be 
planted after the tenth day of July, under the penalty of a fine 
of ten thousand pounds of that staple. The exportation of hides, 
wool, and old iron, was forbidden. The salary of the governor, 

* Honing, i. 434, 482. 



238 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

derived from the impost duty on tobacco exported, was fixed at 
sixteen hundred pounds sterling. 

The burgesses having rescinded the order admitting the gover- 
nor and council as members of the house, and having voted an 
adjournment, Matthews, on the 1st of April, 1658, declared a 
dissolution of the assembly. The house resisted, and declared 
that any burgess who should depart at this conjuncture, should 
be censured as betraying the trust reposed in him by his country ; 
and an oath of secrecy was administered to the members. The 
governor, upon receiving an assurance that the business of the 
house would be speedily and satisfactorily concluded, revoked the 
order of dissolution, referring the question in dispute, as to the 
dissolving power, to his Highness the Lord Protector. The bur- 
gesses, still unsatisfied, appointed a committee, of which Colonel 
John Carter, of Lancaster County, was chairman, to draw up a 
resolution asserting their powers; and in consonance with their 
report the burgesses made a declaration of popular sovereignty: 
that they had in themselves the full power of appointing all 
officers, until they should receive an order to the contrary from 
England; that the house was not dissolvable by any power yet 
extant in Virginia but their own ; that all former elections of 
governor and council should be void ; that the power of governor 
for the future should be conferred on Colonel Samuel Matthews, 
who by them was invested with all the rights and privileges be- 
longing to the governor and captain-general of Virginia ; and that 
a council should be appointed by the burgesses then convened, 
with the advice of the governor. 

The legislative records do not disclose the particular ground 
on which the previous elections of governor and appointments of 
councillors under the provisional government were annulled; but 
from the exclusion of the governor and council from the house, it 
might be inferred that it was owing to a jealousy of these func- 
tionaries being members of the body that elected them. Yet 
Bennet, the first of the three governors, and his council, were, in 
1652, expressly allowed to be ex officio members of the assembly. 
An order was also made, April 2d, 1758, by the assembly, in the 
name of his Highness the Lord Protector, to the sheriff of James 
City, and sergeant-at-arms, to obey no warrant but those signed 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 239 

by the speaker of the house; and William Clayborne, secretary 
of state, (under Bennet, Digges, and Matthews,) was directed to 
deliver the records to the assembly. The oath of office was ad- 
ministered to Governor Matthews by the committee before men- 
tioned, and the members of the council nominated by the governor 
and approved by the house, took the same oath.* 

The number of burgesses present at the session commencing in 
March, 1859, was thirty. Colonel Edward Hill, who had been 
disfranchised, was now unanimously elected speaker. Colonel 
Moore Fantleroy, of Rappahannock County, not being present at 
the election, "moved against him, as if clandestinely elected, and 
taxed the house of unwarrantable proceedings therein." He was 
suspended until the next day, when, acknowledging his error, he 
was readmitted. 

Any member absent from the house was subject to a penalty 
of twenty pounds of tobacco. A member "disguised with over- 
much drink" forfeited one hundred pounds of tobacco. A burgess 
was required to rise from his seat, and to remain uncovered, while 
speaking. The oath was administered to the burgesses by a 
committee of three sent from the council. 



* The governor and council were as follows : Colonel Samuel Matthews, Go- 
vernor and Captain-general of Virginia, Richard Bennet, Colonel William Clay- 
borne, Secretary of State, Colonel John West, Colonel Thomas Pettus, Colonel 
Edward Hill, Colonel Thomas Dew, Colonel AVilliam Bernard, Colonel Obedience 
Robins, Lieutenant-Colonel John Walker, Colonel George Reade, Colonel Abra- 
ham Wood, Colonel John Carter, Mr. Warham Horsmenden, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Anthony Elliott. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

1659-1661. 

Death of Oliver Cromwell — Succeeded by his Son Richard — Assembly acknow- 
ledge his Authority — Character of Government of Virginia under the Com- 
monwealth of England — Matthews dies — Richard Cromwell resigns the Pro- 
tectorate — Supreme Power claimed now by the Assembly — Sir William Berkley 
elected Governor — Act for suppressing Quakers — Free Trade established — 
Stuyvesant's Letter — Charles the Second restored — Sends a new Commissioner 
to Berkley — His Reply — Grant of Northern Neck — The Navigation Act. 

On the 8th of March, 1660, the house of burgesses having 
sent a committee to notify the governor that they attended his 
pleasure, he presented the following letter : — 

"Gentlemen, — His late Highness, the Lord Protector, from 
that general respect which he had to the good and safety of all the 
people of his dominion, whether in these nations, or in the Eng- 
lish plantations abroad, did extend his care to his colony in Vir- 
ginia, the present condition and affairs whereof appearing under 
some unsettledness through the looseness of the government, the 
supplying of that defect hath been taken into serious considera- 
tion, and some resolutions passed in order thereunto, which we 
suppose would have been brought into act by this time, if the 
Lord had continued life and health to his said highness. But it 
hath pleased the Lord, on Friday, the third of this month, to take 
him out of the world, his said highness having in his lifetime, 
according to the humble petition and advice, appointed and de- 
clared the most noble and illustrious lord, the Lord Richard, 
eldest son to his late highness, to be his successor, who hath been 
accordingly, with general consent and applause of all, proclaimed 
Protector of this Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ire- 
land, and the dominions and territories thereunto belonging. 
And, therefore, we have thought fit to signify the same unto you, 
whom we require, according to your duty, that you cause his said 
Highness, Richard, Lord Protector, forthwith to be proclaimed in 
(240) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 241 

all parts of your colony. And his highness' council have thought 
fit hereby to assure you, that the settlement of that colony is not 
neglected; and to let you know, that you may expect shortly to 
receive a more express testimony of his highness' care in that 
behalf; till the further perfecting whereof, their lordships do, will, 
and require you, the present governor and council there, to apply 
yourselves with all seriousness, faithfulness, and circumspection, 
to the peaceable and orderly management of the affairs of that 
colony, according to such good laws and customs (not repugnant 
to the laws of England) as have been heretofore used and exer- 
cised among you, improving your best endeavors as for maintain- 
ing the civil peace, so for promoting the interest of religion, 
wherein you will receive from hence all just countenance and 
encouragement. And if any person shall presume, by any undue 
ways, to interrupt the quiet or hazard the safety of his highness' 
people there, order will be taken, upon the representation of such 
proceedings, to make further provision for securing of your peace 
in such a way as shall be found meet and necessary, and for call- 
ing those to a strict account who shall endeavor to disturb it. 
"Signed in the name and by the order of the council. 

" H. LAWRENCE, President. 
"Whitehall, 7th September, 1658." 

Superscription, to the " Governor and Council of his Highness' 
Colony of Virginia." 

Upon the reading of this letter, the governor and council 
withdrew from the assembly ; and the house of burgesses unani- 
mously acknowledged their obedience to his Highness, Richard, 
Lord Protector, and fully recognized his power.* So much truth 
is there in Mr. Jefferson's remark, f that in the contest with the 
house of Stuart, Virginia accompanied the footsteps of the mother 
country. The government of Virginia under the Commonwealth 
of England was wholly provisional. By the convention of March 
the 12th, 1652, Virginia secured to herself her ancient limits, 
and was entitled to reclaim that part of her chartered territory 

* Hening, i. 509. 

f Preface to T. M.'s Account of Bacon's Rebellion, in Kercheval's History of 
Valley of Va., 21. The clause quoted from Mr. Jefferson is omitted in the copy 
of the same introduction found in Force's Hist. Tracts, i. 

16 



242 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

■which had been unjustly and illegally given away to Lord Balti- 
more. In this, however, owing to the perplexed condition of 
affairs in England, Virginia was disappointed; but she secured, 
by the articles of convention, free trade, exemption from taxa- 
tion, save by her own assembly, and exclusion of military force 
from her borders. Yet all these rights were violated by subse- 
quent kings and parliaments.* 

The administration of the colonial government, under the Com- 
monwealth of England, was judicious and beneficent; the people 
were free, harmonious, and prosperous; and while Cromwell's 
sceptre commanded the respect of the world, he exhibited toward 
the infant and loyal colony a generous and politic lenity; and 
during this interval she enjoyed free trade, legislative independ- 
ence, civil and religious freedom, republican institutions, and in- 
ternal peace. The Governors Bennet, Digges, and Matthews, by 
their patriotic virtues, enjoyed the confidence, and affection, and 
respect of the people; no extravagance, rapacity, corruption, or 
extortion was charged against their administration; intolerance 
and persecution were unknown. But rapine, corruption, extor- 
tion, intolerance, and persecution were all soon to be revived 
under the restored dynasty of the Stuarts. 

Richard Cromwell resigned the Protectorate on the 22d day of 
April, 1659. Matthews, the governor, had died in the preceding 
January. England was without a monarch ; Virginia without a 
governor. It was during this interval that public opinion in Eng- 
land was in suspense, the result of affairs depending upon the line 
of conduct which might be pursued by General Monk. The Vir- 
ginia assembly, convening on the 13th day of March, 1660, de- 
clared by their first act that as there was then in England no resi- 
dent, absolute, and generally acknowledged power, therefore the 
supreme government of the colony should rest in the assembly; 
and writs previously issued in the name of his Highness, the Lord 
Protector, now issued in the name of the Grand Assembly of 
Virginia. By the second act, Sir William Berkley was elected 
governor; he was required to call a grand assembly once in two 
years at the least, and was restricted from dissolving the assembly 

* Jefferson's Notes, 125. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 243 

without its consent. The circumstances of this reappointment 
of Sir William Berkley have been frequently misrepresented; 
historians from age to age following each other in fabulous tradi- 
tion, erroneous conjecture, or wilful perversion, have asserted 
that Sir William was hurried from retirement by a torrent of po- 
pular enthusiasm, and made governor by acclamation, and that 
Charles the Second was boldly proclaimed in Virginia, and his 
standard reared several months, some say sixteen, before the re- 
storation ; and thus the Virginians, as they had been the last of 
the king's subjects who renounced their allegiance, so they were 
the first who returned to it!* 

Error in history is like a flock of sheep jumping over a bridge; 
if one goes, the rest all follow. Sir William Berkley, as has been 
before mentioned, was not elected by a tumultuary assemblage of 
the people, but by the assembly; the royal standard was not 
raised upon the occasion, nor was the king proclaimed. The bulk 
of the Virginia planters undoubtedly retained their habitual 
attachment to monarchy and to the Established Church; and 
some royalist refugees had been driven hither by the civil war. 
Yet, as the colonists had formerly been greatly dissatisfied with 
some acts of the government during the reign of Charles the 
First, they certainly had much reason to approve of the wise, and 
liberal, and magnanimous policy of Cromwell. Besides this, a 
good many republicans and Puritans had found their way to Vir- 
ginia. The predominant feeling, however, in Virginia as in Eng- 
land, was in favor of the restoration of Charles the Second. Sir 
William Berkley, in his speech addressed to the assembly on their 
proffer of the place of governor, said: "I do, therefore, in the 
presence of God and you, make this safe protestation for us all, 
that if any supreme settled power appears, I will immediately lay 
down my commission, but will live most submissively obedient to 
any power God shall set over me, as the experience of eight 
years has shewed I have done." In his address to the house of 
burgesses, he alludes to the late king, as "my most gracious master, 

* Robertson's Hist, of America, iv. 230; Beverley's Hist, of Va., B. i. 55; 
Chalmers' Annals, 124; Burk's Hist, of Va., ii. 120; Grahame's Colonial Hist, 
of U. S., i. 89; Hawks' Trot. Episcopal Church in Va., 63. See, also, Herring's 
Statutes at Large of Va., i. 12G. Hening first corrected these errors. 






244 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

King Charles, of ever blessed memory," and as "my ever ho- 
nored master, who was put to a violent death." The Berkleys 
were staunch adherents of Charles the First, and extreme royal- 
ists. Referring in his address to the surrender of the colony, 
Sir William said, that the parliament " sent a small power to 
force my submission, which, finding me defenceless, was quietly 
(God pardon me) effected." Of the several parliaments and the 
protectorate he remarked: "And I believe, Mr. Speaker, (Theo- 
dorick Bland,) you think, if my voice had been prevalent in most 
of their elections, I would not voluntarily have made choice of 
them for my supremes. But, Mr. Speaker, all this I have said, 
is only to make this truth apparent to you, that in and under all 
these mutable governments of divers natures and constitutions, I 
have lived most resignedly submissive. But, Mr. Speaker, it is 
one duty to live obedient to a government, and another of a very 
different nature, to command under it." It thus appears that Sir 
William accepted the place hoping for the restoration of Charles 
the Second ; but with an explicit pledge, that he would resign in 
case that event should not occur.* This speech was made March 
the nineteenth, and on the twenty-first the council unanimously 
concurred in his election. The members were Richard Bennet, 
(late Puritan Governor,) William Bernard, John Walker, George 
Reade, Thomas Pettus, William Clayborne, Edward Hill, Thomas 
Dew, Edward Carter, Thomas Swan, and Augustine Warner. 
Nearly all of these were colonels. The title of colonel and mem- 
ber of the council appears to have been a sort of order of no- 
bility in Virginia. Sir William Berkley was elected two months 
before the restoration of Charles the Second, which took place on 
the 20th of May, 1660, that being his birth-day. Yet the word 
"king" or "majesty" nowhere occurs in the legislative records, 
from the commencement of the Commonwealth of England until 
the 11th day of October, 1660, more than four months after the 
restoration. f Virginia was indeed loyal, but she was too feeble 
to avow her loyalty. 

An act was passed, entitled an act for the suppressing the 
Quakers; the preamble of which describes them as an unreason- 

* Southern Lit. Messenger for January, 1845. f Hening, ii. 9, in note. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 245 

able and turbulent sort of people, who daily gather together un- 
lawful assemblies of people, teaching lies, miracles, false visions, 
prophecies, and doctrines tending to disturb the peace, disorgan- 
ize society, and destroy all law, and government, and religion. 
Masters of vessels were prohibited from bringing in any of that 
sect, under the penalty of one hundred pounds of tobacco ; all of 
them to be apprehended and committed, until they should give 
security that they would leave the colony; if they should return 
they should be punished, and returning the third time should be 
proceeded against as felons. No person should entertain any 
Quakers that had been questioned by the governor and council; 
nor permit any assembly of them in or near his house, under the 
penalty of one hundred pounds sterling ; and no person to publish 
their books, pamphlets, and libels.* This act was passed in 
March, 1660, shortly after the election of Sir William Berkley. 

Of late years, certain masters of vessels trading to Virginia, in 
violation of the laws and of the articles of surrender granting the 
privilege of free trade, had "molested, troubled, and seized divers 
ships, sloops, and vessels, coming to trade with us." The as- 
sembly therefore required every master to give bond not to molest 
any person trading under the protection of the laws. 

Act XVI. establishes free trade : " Whereas, the restriction of 
trade hath appeared to be the greatest impediment to the advance 
of the estimation and value of our present only commodity, to- 
bacco, be it enacted and confirmed, That the Dutch, and all 
strangers of what Christian nation soever, in amity with the 
people of England, shall have free liberty to trade with us for all 
allowable commodities." And it was provided, " That if the said 
Dutch, or other foreigners, shall import any negro slaves, they, 
the said Dutch, or others, shall, for the tobacco really produced 
by the sale of the said negro, pay only the impost of two shillings 
per hogshead, the like being paid by our own nation." The 
regular impost being ten shillings, this exemption was a bounty 
of eight shillings per hogshead for the encouragement of the im- 
portation of negroes. f 

When Argall, in 1614, returning from his half-piratical excur- 

* Hening, i. 532. f Hening, i. 535. 



246 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

sion against the French at Port Royal, entered what is now New 
York Bay, he found three or four huts erected there by Dutch 
mariners and fishermen, on the Island of Manhattan. Near half 
a century had since elapsed, and the colony planted there had 
grown to an importance that justified something of diplomatic 
correspondence. In the spring of 1660 Nicholas Varleth and 
Brian Newton were sent by Governor Stuyvesant, celebrated by 
Knickerbocker, from Fort Amsterdam to Virginia, for the pur- 
pose of forming a league acknowledging the Dutch title to New 
York. Sir William Berkley evaded the proposition in the 
following letter : — 

"Sir, — I have received the letter you were pleased to send 
me by Mr. Mills his vessel, and shall be ever ready to comply 
with you in all acts of neighborly friendship and amity ; but truly, 
sir, you desire me to do that concerning your letter and claims to 
land in the northern part of America which I am incapable to do, 
for I am but a servant of the assembly's; neither do they arro- 
gate any power to themselves further than the miserable distrac- 
tions of England force them to. For when God shall be pleased 
in His mercy to take away and dissipate the unnatural divisions 
of their native country, they will immediately return to their own 
professed obedience. What then they should do in matters of 
contract, donation, and confession of right, would have little 
strength or signification ; much more presumptive and impertinent 
would it be in me to do it, without their knowledge or assent. 
We shall very shortly meet again, and then, if to them you sig- 
nify your desires, I shall labor all I can to get you a satisfactory 
answer. 

" I am, sir, your humble servant, 

"WILLIAM BERKLEY. 

"Virginia, August 20th, 1660." 

Peter Stuyvesant, the last of the Dutch governors of New Am- 
sterdam, within a few years was dispossessed by a small English 
squadron, and the captured colony was retained. Sir William 
Berkley's letter was written nearly three months after the actual 
restoration, and yet, not having received intelligence of it, he 
alludes to the English government as in a state of interregnum, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 247 

and writes not one word in present recognition of his majesty 
Charles the Second ; on the contrary, he expressly avows himself 
a servant of the assembly. 

Tea was introduced into England about this time; the East 
India Company made the king a formal present of two pounds 
and two ounces.* 

The address of the Parliament and General Monk to Charles 
the Second, then at Breda, in Holland, was carried over by Lord 
Berkley, of Berkley Castle. On the eighth of May Charles was 
proclaimed in England king, and he returned in triumph to Lon- 
don on the twenty-ninth of that month, being his birth-day. The 
restored monarch transmitted a new commission, dated July the 
31st, 1660, at Westminster, to his faithful adherent Sir William 
Berkley. He had remained in Virginia during the Commonwealth 
of England under various pretexts, and it is probable that he 
kept up a secret correspondence with refugee royalists, and it is 
said that he even invited Charles to come over to Virginia. This 
tradition, however, is without proof or plausibility; had the exiled 
Charles sought refuge in Virginia, an English frigate would have 
found it easy to make him a prisoner. Virginia would have pre- 
sented few attractions to the royal profligate; and it could have 
hardly been a matter of regret to the Virginians that he never 
came here. Sir William Berkley's letter of acknowledgment, 
written in March, 1661, is extravagantly loyal. He apologizes 
for having accepted office from the assembly thus: "It was no 
more, may it please your majesty, than to leap over the fold to 
save your majesty's flock, when your majesty's enemies of that 
fold had barred up the lawful entrance into it, and enclosed the 
wolves of schism and rebellion, ready to devour all within it," etc. 
By "the wolves of schism and rebellion" he probably meant the 
Puritan and Republican party in Virginia, and he appears to 
have looked upon them as formidable enemies. 

Charles the Second, in the first year of his reign, that is, in 
the first year after the death of his father, for he was considered 
or imagined to have reigned all the while, had granted all the 
tract of land lying between the Rappahannock and the Potomac, 

* Pepys' Diary, i. 110. Pepys was pronounced Peeps. 



248 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

known as the Northern Neck, to Lord Hopton, the Earl of St. 
Albans, Lord Culpepper, and others, to hold the same forever, 
paying yearly six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence to the 
crown. 

The Anglo-American colonies now established, Virginia, New 
England, and Maryland, contained eighty-five thousand inhabit- 
ants. The navigation act had not been recognized by Virginia 
as obligatory on her; had been opposed by Massachusetts as an 
invasion of her rights ; and had been evaded by Maryland. James 
the First, Charles the First, and the Commonwealth, had ex- 
pressly exempted the colonies from direct taxation, but the Re- 
storation parliament extended the customs of tonnage and 
poundage to every part of the dominion of the crown; and the 
colonists did not for years resist the collection of those imposts.* 

* Chalmers' Revolt of Amer. Colonies, 99. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

1661-1663. 

Settlements of Virginia — The Church — Laws for establishment of Towns — In- 
telligence received of Restoration — Assembly sends Address to the King — 
Demonstrations of Loyalty — Berkley visits England — Morrison elected by the 
Council in his stead — Assembly's tone altered — Act for ducking "Brabbling 
Women" — Power of Taxation vested in Governor and Council for three years 
— Miscellaneous Affairs — Act relating to Indians — Persons trespassing on the 
Indians, punished — Sir William Berkley returns from England — Instructions 
relative to the Church — Acts against Schismatics and Separatists — Berkley 
superintends establishment of a Colony on Albemarle Sound. 

The settlements of Virginia now included the territory lying 
between the Potomac and the Chowan, and embraced, besides, the 
isolated Accomac. There were fifty parishes. The plantations 
lay dispersed along the banks of rivers and creeks, those on the 
James stretching westward, above a hundred miles into the inte- 
rior. Each parish extended many miles in length along the river- 
side, but in breadth ran back only a mile. This was the average 
breadth of the plantations, their length varying from half a mile 
to three miles or more. The fifty parishes comprehending an 
area supposed to be equal to one-half of England, it was inevita- 
ble that many of the inhabitants lived very remote from the 
parish church. Many parishes, indeed, were as yet destitute of 
churches and glebes; and not more than ten parishes were sup- 
plied with ministers. Hammond* says: "They then began to 
provide, and send home for gospel ministers, and largely contri- 
buted for their maintenance ; but Virginia savoring not hand- 
somely in England, very few of good conversation would adven- 
ture thither, (as thinking it a place wherein surely the fear of 
God was not,) yet many came, such as wore black coats, and 
could babble in a pulpit, roar in a tavern, exact from their pa- 

* "Leah and Rachel," pullished at London in 165C, in Force's Historical 
Tracts, iii. 

(249) 



250 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

rishioners, and rather by their dissoluteness destroy than feed 
their flocks." Hammond's statements are not to be unreservedly 
received. Where there were ministers, worship was usually held 
once on Sunday; but the remote parishioners seldom attended. 
The planters, either from indifference or from the want of means, 
were remiss in the building of churches and the maintenance of 
ministers. Through the licentious lives of many of them, the 
Christian religion was dishonored, and the name of God blas- 
phemed among the heathen natives, (who were near them and 
often among them,) and thus their conversion hindered.* 

In 1661 the Rev. Philip Mallory was sent over to England as 
Virginia's agent to solicit the cause of the church. The general 
want of schools, likewise owing to the sparseness of the popula- 
tion, was most of all bewailed by parents. The children of Vir- 
ginia, naturally of beautiful persons, and generally of more 
genius than those in England, were doomed to grow up unser- 
viceable for any great employments in church or state. As a 
principal remedy for these ills, the establishment of towns in each 
county was recommended. It was further proposed to erect 
schools in the colony, and for the supply of ministers to establish, 
by act of parliament, Virginia fellowships at Oxford and Cam- 
bridge, with an engagement to serve the church in Virginia for 
seven years. To raise the funds necessary for this purpose, it 
was proposed to take up a collection in the churches of Great 
Britain ; and the assembly ordered a petition to the king to that 
end, to be drawn up.f Another feature of this plan was to send 
over a bishop, so soon as there should be a city for his see. 
These recommendations, although urged upon the attention of the 
bishop of London, seem, from whatever cause, to have proved 
fruitless. The Virginia assembly, in no instance, expressed any 



* Virginia's Cure, [Force's Hist. Tracts, iii.,) printed at London, 16G2, and com- 
posed by a minister. The initials on the title-page, R. G. He appears to have 
taken refuge in Virginia during the Commonwealth of England; and it is evi- 
dent that he had resided in the colony for a considerable time. "Virginia's 
Cure" is addressed to the Bishop of London: it is a clear and vigorous docu- 
ment, acrimonious toward the late government, but earnest in behalf of the spiri- 
tual welfare of Virginia. 

•j- Hening, ii. 33. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 251 

desire for the appointment of a bishop ; they remembered with 
abhorrence the cruelties that had been exercised by the prelates 
in England. 

Mr. Jefferson remarked that the legislature of Virginia has 
frequently declared that there should be towns in places where 
nature had declared that they should not be. The scheme of 
compelling the planters to abandon their plantations, and to con- 
gregate in towns, built by legislation, was indeed chimerical. 
The failure of the schemes proposed in the Virginia assembly for 
the establishment of towns, is attributed by the author of "Vir- 
ginia's Cure" to the majority of the house of burgesses, who are 
said to have come over at first as servants, and who, although 
they may have accumulated by their industry competent estates, 
yet, owing to their mean education, were incompetent to judge of 
public matters, either in church or state. Yet many of the early 
laws appear to have been judicious, practical, and well adapted to 
the circumstances of a newly settled country. The legislature, 
eventually finding the scheme of establishing towns by legal 
enactments impracticable, declared it expedient to leave trade to 
regulate itself. 

The assembly of March, 1661, consisted in the main of new 
members. At another session held in October of the same year, 
there appeared still fewer of the members who had held seats 
during the Commonwealth; and it may be reasonably inferred 
that the bulk of the retiring members were well affected to the 
Commonwealth of England. Intelligence of the restoration of 
Charles the Second had already reached Virginia, and was joy- 
fully received. The word "king," or "majesty," was used in the 
public acts now for the first time, since the commencement of the 
Commonwealth of England — an interval of twelve years. 

An address was sent to the king, praying him to pardon the 
inhabitants of Virginia for having yielded to a force — which they 
could not resist. Forty-four thousand pounds of tobacco, worth 
two thousand and two hundred dollars, were appropriated to 
Major-General Hammond and Colonel Guy Molesworth, for 
"being employed in the address." Sir Henry Moody was 
dispatched on an embassy "to the Manados," or Manhat- 
tan. Colonel Carter was required to declare what passed 



252 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

between him and Colonel William Clayborne at the assembly of 
1653 or 1654, relative to the making an act of non-address to the 
Right Honorable Sir William Berkley ; but the particulars of this 
affair have not been handed down. The rent paid for the use of 
the house where the assembly met, was three thousand five hun- 
dred pounds of tobacco, equivalent to one hundred, and seventy- 
five dollars. Four thousand pounds of tobacco, worth two 
hundred dollars, were paid for the rent of the room where the 
governor and council held their meetings. The name of Monroe 
occurs at this early day in the County of Westmoreland as one of 
the commissioners, or justices of the peace. 

The assembly strove to display its loyalty by bountiful appro- 
priations to the governor and the leading royalists ; the restoration 
in England was reflected by the restoration in Virginia. The 
necessity of the case had made the government of the colony 
republican ; she was as free and almost as independent during the 
Commonwealth of England as after the revolution of 1776. For 
a short time even Sir William Berkley appears to have been 
identified with this system. He and the new assembly were now 
eagerly running in an opposite tack, and were impatient to wipe 
out all traces of their late forced disobedience and involuntary 
recognition of the popular sovereignty. 

Sir William continued as governor till the 30th of April, 1661, 
when being about to visit England, Colonel Francis Morrison was 
elected by the council in his place. Sir William, it is said, was 
dispatched to England as agent to defend the colony against the 
monopoly of the navigation act, which threatened to violate their 
"freedoms," as is declared by the first act of the assembly held 
at James City, on the 23d of March, 1661. Sir William was 
heartily opposed to the restrictions on the commerce of Virginia ; 
but any efforts that he may have used in opposition to them were 
fruitless. 

He embarked in May for England, and returned in the fall of 
the following year, 1662. His pay on account of this mission was 
two hundred thousand pounds of tobacco, or five hundred and 
seventy-one hogsheads, the average weight of a hogshead at this 
period being three hundred and fifty pounds.* This quantity of 

* Hcning, L 435. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 253 

tobacco was worth two thousand pounds sterling, or ten thousand 
dollars.* The ordinary salary of the governor consisted of castle 
duties, license fees, tobacco, corn, and customs, and probably 
amounted to not less than twelve thousand dollars per annum.f 

The assembly's tone was now altered; during the Common- 
wealth of England, Oliver Cromwell had been addressed as "His 
Highness," and the burgesses had subscribed themselves his 
"most humble, most devoted servants;" nor had Richard Crom- 
well been treated with a less obsequious and respectful submission. 
But now the following language was employed: "Whereas, our 
late surrender and submission to that execrable power, that so 
bloodily massacred the late King Charles the First of ever blessed 
and glorious memory, hath made us, by acknowledging them, 
guilty of their crimes ; to show our serious and hearty repentance 
and detestation of that barbarous act, be it enacted, That the thir- 
tieth of January, the day the said king was beheaded, be annually 
solemnized with fasting and prayers, that our sorrows may expiate 
our crime, and our tears wash away our guilt."| Their compul- 
sory acknowledgment of the sovereign power of the Common- 
wealth of England, if they all the while remained in their hearts 
loyal, could not have implicated them in the execution of the 
king. 

Colonel Francis Morrison continued to fill the place of Sir 
William Berkley until his return, which took place some time be- 
tween September and the 21st of November, 1662. 

An act was passed, entitled "Women causing scandalous suits, 
to be ducked :" " Whereas, oftentimes many brabbling women often 
slander and scandalize their neighbors, for which their poor hus- 
bands are often brought into chargeable and vexatious suits, and 
cast in great damages ; be it therefore enacted by the authority 
aforesaid, That in actions of slander occasioned by the wife, as 
aforesaid, after judgment passed for the damages, the woman 
shall be punished by ducking; and if the slander be so enormous 
as to be adjudged at a greater damage than five hundred pounds 
of tobacco, then the woman to suffer a ducking for each five 



* Hening, i. 398, 418. f Ibid., i. 545, and ii. 9. 

J Ibid., ii. 24. 



254 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

hundred pounds of tobacco against the husband adjudged, if he 
refuse to pay the tobacco." A ducking-stool had been already 
established in each county. 

The anniversary both of the birth and the restoration of Charles 
the Second was established as a holiday. The navigation act 
was now enforced in Virginia, and in consequence the price of 
tobacco fell very low, while the cost of imported goods was also 
augmented. An act prohibiting the importation of luxuries seems 
to have been negatived by the governor. It was ordered that 
"no person shall trade with the Indians for any beaver, otter, or 
any other furs, unless he first obtain a commission from the go- 
vernor." This act gave great offence to the people; it was in 
effect conferring on the governor an indirect monopoly of the fur- 
trade. By a still more high-handed measure the governor and 
council were empowered to lay taxes for the ensuing three years, 
unless in the mean time some urgent occasion should necessitate 
the calling together of the assembly. Thus taxation was dis- 
severed from representation ; the main safeguard of freedom was 
given to the executive. Major John Bond, a magistrate in Isle 
of Wight County, was disfranchised for "factious and schisma- 
tical demeanors." He had repeatedly been returned as one of 
the burgesses of his county during the Commonwealth of England. 
An act making provision for a college, appears to have remained 
a dead letter ; other acts equally futile, passed at ensuing sessi uns, 
frequently recur. The assembly ventured to declare that the 
king's pardon did not extend to a penalty incurred for planting 
tobacco contrary to law. 

Colonel William Clayborne, secretary of state, was displaced 
by Thomas Ludwell, commissioned by the king. Colonel Francis 
Morrison and Henry Randolph, clerk of the^ assembly, were ap- 
pointed revisers of the laws. Beverley* says that Morrison made 
an abridgement of the laws. In this revised code the common 
law of England is, for the first time, expressly adopted, being 
spoken of as "those excellent and oft-refined laws of England, f 
But it has been seen that Magna Charta had been previously 



* Hist, of Virginia, second edition. 

f Beverley, B. i. 43; Chalmers' Revolt, i. 101. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 255 

recognized as of force in Virginia. In making a revision of the 
laws it was ordered that all acts which "might keep in memory 
our forced deviation from his majesty's obedience," should be re- 
pealed "nnd expunged." In the absence of ministers it was 
enacted that readers should be appointed, where they could be 
found, with the advice and consent of the nearest ministers, to 
read the prayers and homilies, and catechise children and ser- 
vants, as had been practised in the time of Queen Elizabeth. 
Although not more than one-fifth of the parishes were supplied 
with ministers, yet the laws demanded a strict conformity, and 
required all to contribute to the support of the established church. 
But the right of presentation still remained in the people. The 
number of the vestry was limited to twelve, elected by the people, 
but they were now invested with the power of perpetuating their 
own body by filling vacancies themselves.* Vestries were ordered 
to procure subscriptions for the support of the ministry. The 
number of burgesses to represent each county was limited to two ; 
the number of magistrates to twelve. The assembly confirmed 
an order of the quarter court prohibiting "Roger Partridge and 
Elizabeth, his wife, from keeping any maid-servant for the term 
of three years." 

The assembly say, that "they have set down certain rules to 
be observed in the government of the church, until God shall 
please to turn his majesty's pious thoughts" toward them, and 
"provide a better supply of ministers." "The pious thoughts" of 
Charles the Second were never turned to this remote corner of 
his empire. Magistrates, heretofore called commissioners, were 
now styled "justices of the peace," and their courts "county 
courts."f A duty was laid on rum, because "it had, by experi- 
ence, been found to bring diseases and death to divers people." 
An impost, first established during the Commonwealth of Eng- 
land, was still levied on every hogshead of tobacco exported; this 
became a permanent source of revenue, and rendered the execu- 
tive independent of the legislature. 

The numerous acts relating to the Indians were reduced into 
one: prohibiting the English from purchasing Indian lands; 
securing their persons and property; preventing encroachments 

* Ibid., 44. f Hening, ii. 69. 



256 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

on their territory; ordering the English seated near to assist 
them in fencing their corn-fields; licensing them to oyster, fish, 
hunt, and gather the natural fruits of the country; prohibiting 
trade with them without license, or imprisonment of an Indian 
chief without special warrant; bounds to be annually defined; 
badges of silver and copper plate to be furnished to Indian chiefs ; 
no Indian to enter the English confines without a badge, under 
penalty of imprisonment, till ransomed by one hundred arms'- 
length of roanoke; Indian chiefs tributary to the English, to give 
alarm of approach of hostile Indians ; Indians not to be sold as 
slaves.* 

It was ordered that a copy of the revised laws should be sent 
to Sir William Berkley in England, that he might procure the 
king's confirmation of them. Beverley mentions a tradition that 
the king, in compliment to Virginia, wore, at his coronation, a 
robe made of Virginia silk, and adds, that this was all the country 
received in return for their loyalty, the parliament having re- 
enacted the navigation act, (first enacted during the Common- 
wealth,) with still severer restrictions and prohibitions. Even 
the traditional compliment of the king's wearing a robe of Vir- 
ginia silk appears to be unfounded. 

Wahanganoche, chief of Potomac, charged with treason and 
murder by Captain Charles Brent, before the assembly, was 
acquitted; and Brent, together with Captain George Mason and 
others, were ordered to pay that chief a certain sum in roanoke, 
or in matchcoats, (from matchkore, a deerskin,) in satisfaction of 
the injuries. Brent, Mason, and others were afterwards punished 
by fines, suspension from office, and disfranchisement, for offences 
committed against the Indians, and for showing contempt to the 
governor's warrant in relation to the chief of Potomac. The 
counties of Westmoreland and Northumberland were especially 
exposed to Indian disturbances at this time. Colonel Moore 
Fantleroy was disfranchised for maltreating the Rappahannock 
Indians ; Mrs. Mary Ludlow was restrained from encroaching on 
the lands of the Chesquiack Indians at Pyanketanke; Colonel 
Goodrich was charged with burning the English house of the chief 
of the Matapony Indians. George Harwood was ordered to ask 

* Hening, ii. 133. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 257 

forgiveness in open court on his knees, for speaking disrespect- 
fully of the right honorable governor, Francis Morrison; and, 
at the next court held in Warwick County, to ask forgiveness of 
Captain John Ashton for defaming him, and to pay two thousand 
pounds of tobacco. 

It was during this year, 1662, that Charles the Second married 
Catherine, the Portuguese Infanta. 

The court of Boston, in New England, having discharged a 
servant belonging to William Drummond, an inhabitant of Virgi- 
nia, the assembly ordered reprisal to be made on the property 
belonging to inhabitants of the Northern colony to the amount of 
forty pounds sterling.* 

Sir William Berkley returned in the fall of 1662 from Eng- 
land, having accomplished nothing for the colony, but having se- 
cured for himself an interest in a part of the Virginia territory, 
now North Carolina, granted to himself and other courtiers and 
court favorites. He brought out with him instructions from the 
crown, comprising directions relative to church matters; that the 
Book of Common Prayer should be read, and the sacrament ad- 
ministered according to the rites of the Church of England ; that 
the churches should be well and orderly kept ; that the number 
of them should be increased as the means might justify ; that a 
competent maintenance should be assigned to each minister, and 
a house built for him, and a glebe of one hundred acres attached. 
It was further directed that no minister should be preferred by 
the governor to any benefice, without a certificate from the Lord 
Bishop of London; and that ministers should be admitted into 
their respective vestries; that the oaths of obedience and su- 
premacy should be administered to all persons bearing any part 
of the government, and to all persons whatsoever of age in the 
colony. The last of these instructions is in the following words : 
"And because we are willing to give all possible encouragement 
to persons of different persuasions in matters of religion, to trans- 
port themselves thither with their stocks, you are not to suffer 
any man to be molested or disquieted in the exercise of his reli- 
gion, so he be content with a quiet and peaceable enjoying it, not 
giving therein offence or scandal to the government; but we oblige 

17 * Hening, ii. 158. 



258 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

you in your own house and family to the profession of the Pro- 
testant religion, according as it is now established in our kingdom 
of England, and the recommending it to all others under your 
government, as far as it may consist with the peace and quiet of 
our said colony. You are to take care that drunkenness and 
debauchery, swearing, and blasphemy, be discountenanced and 
punished; and that none be admitted to publick trust and employ- 
ment whose ill fame and conversation may bring scandal there- 
upon."* 

The spirit of toleration expressed in these instructions was in- 
sincere and hypocritical, and dictated by the apprehensions of a 
government yet unstable, and by a temporizing policy. In Decem- 
ber, 1662, the assembly declared that "many schismatical per- 
sons, out of their averseness to the orthodox established religion, 
or out of the new-fangled conceits of their own heretical inven- 
tions, refuse to have their children baptized," and imposed on such 
offenders a fine of two thousand pounds of tobacco. 

The act for the suppression of the sect of Quakers was now 
extended to all separatists, and made still more rigorous. Per- 
sons attending their meetings were fined, for the first offence, two 
hundred pounds of tobacco; for the second, five hundred; and for 
the third, banished. In case the party convicted should be too 
poor to pay the fine, it was to be levied from such of his sect as 
might be possessed of ampler means. 

A Mr. Durand, elder in a Puritan "very orthodox church," in 
Nansemond County, had been banished from Virginia in 1648. 
In 1662, the Yeopim Indians granted to "George Durant" the 
neck of land in North Carolina which still bears his name. He 
was probably the exile. In April, 1663, George Cathmaid 
claimed from Governor Berkley a large tract of land on the bor- 
ders of Albemarle Sound, in reward of having colonized a num- 
ber of settlers in that province. In the same year Sir William 
Berkley was commissioned to organize a government over this 
newly settled region, which, in honor of the perfidious General 
Monk, now made Duke of Albemarle, received the name which 
time has transferred to the Sound. 

* MS. (Virginia) in State Paper office, (London,) cited in Anderson's Hist 
of Colonial Church, ii. 548-0. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



Report of Edmund Scarburgh, Surveyor-General, of his Proceedings in esta- 
blishing the Boundary Line between Virginia and Maryland on the Eastern 
Shore — The Bear and the Cub — Extracts from Records of Accomac. 

A controversy existed between Virginia and Lord Baltimore 
relative to the boundary line on the Eastern Shore of the Chesa- 
peake Bay. The dispute turned on the true site of Watkins' 
Point, which was admitted to be the southern limit of Maryland 
on that shore. The Virginia assembly, in 1663, declared the 
true site of Watkins' Point to be on the north side of Wicocomoco 
River, at its mouth, and ordered publication thereof to be made 
by Colonel Edmund Scarburgh, his majesty's surveyor-general, 
commanding, in his majesty's name, all the inhabitants south of 
that Point, "to render obedience to his majesty's government of 
Virginia." A conference with Lord Baltimore's commissioners 
was proposed in case he should be dissatisfied, and Colonel Scar- 
burgh, Mr. John Catlett, and Mr. Richard Lawrence were appointed 
commissioners on the part of Virginia. Lawrence will reappear 
in Bacon's Rebellion. The surveyor-general was further directed 
"to improve his best abilities in all other his majesty's concerns 
of land relating to Virginia, especially that to the northward of 
forty degrees of latitude, being the utmost bounds of the said 
Lord Baltimore's grant, and to give an account of his proceed- 
ings therein to the right honorable governor and council of 
Virginia."* 

Colonel Scarburgh's report of his proceedings on this occasion 
is preserved.f He set out with "some of the commission, and 
about forty horsemen," an escort which he deemed necessary "to 



* Hening, ii. 183. 

f This document, entitled " The Account of Proceedings in his Majt's Affairs 
at Anamessecks and Manokin, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia," is preserved 
in the records of Accomac County Court, and a copy, furnished by Thomas R. 

(259) 



260 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

repel the contempt" which, as he was informed, "some Quakers 
and a fool in office has threatened to obtrude." The party reached 
Anamessecks on Sunday night, the eleventh of October. On the 
next clay, at the house of an officer of the Lord Baltimore, the 
surveyor-general began to publish the assembly's commands by 
repeatedly reading the act to the officer, who labored under the 
disadvantage of being unable to read. He declared that he 
would not be false to the trust put in him by the Lord-Lieutenant 
of Maryland. To this Colonel Scarburgh replied, "that there 
could be no trust where there was no intrust," (interest.) The 
officer declining to subscribe his obedience, lest he might be 
hanged by the Governor of Maryland, was arrested and held to 
security (given by some of Scarburgh's party) to appear before 
the governor and council of Virginia, and "the broad arrow" was 
set on his door. This matter being so satisfactorily adjusted, the 
colonel and his company proceeded to the house of a Quaker, 
where the act was published "with a becoming reverence;" but 
the Quakers scoffing and deriding it, and refusing their obedience, 
were arrested, to answer "their contempt and rebellion," and it 
being found impracticable to obtain any security, "the broad 
arrow was set on the door." At Manokin the housekeepers and 
freemen, except two of Lord Baltimore's officers, subscribed. 
"One Hollinsworth, merchant, of a northern vessel," at this 
juncture, "came and presented his request for liberty of trade;" 
which, Scarburgh suspecting to be "some plan of the Quakers," 
to defeat their design, "presumed, in their infant plantation, to 
give freedom of trade without impositions." Scarburgh gives a 
descriptive list of those who stood out against submitting to the 
jurisdiction of Virginia: one was "the ignorant yet insolent 
officer, a cooper by profession, who lived long in the lower parts 
of Accomac ; once elected a burgess by the common crowd, and 
thrown out of the assembly for a factious and tumultuous person." 
George Johnson was "the Proteus of heresy," notorious for 
" shifting schismatical pranks." " He stands arrested," and " bids 

Joynes, Esq., the clerk, (himself a descendant of Colonel Edmund Scarburgh,) 
was published in 1833, by order of the legislature of Maryland. I am in- 
debted to William T. Joynes, Esq., of Petersburg, for the use of this report, and 
for some other interesting particulars relating to the Eastern Shore. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 261 

defiance." "Thomas Price, a creeping Quaker, by trade a 
leather-dresser," and "saith nothing else but that he would not 
obey government, for which he also stands arrested." "Ambrose 
Dixon, a caulker by profession," "often in question for his Quak- 
ing profession," "a prater of nonsense," "stands arrested, and 
the broad arrow at his door, but bids defiance." " Henry Boston, 
an unmannerly fellow, that stands condemned on the records for 
fighting and contemning the laws of the country ; a rebel to go- 
vernment, and disobedient to authority, for which he received a 
late reward with a rattan, and hath not subscribed; hides him- 
self, so scapes arrest." "These are all, except two or three loose 
fellows that follow the Quakers for scraps, whom a good whip is 
fittest to reform." 

On the 10th day of November, 1663, the county court of Ac- 
comac authorized Captain William Thorn and others to summon 
the good subjects of Manokin and other parts of the county, so 
far as Pocomoke River, to come together and arm themselves for 
defence against any that might invade them, in consequence "of 
the rumors that the Quakers and factious fools have spread, to 
the disturbance of the peace and terror of the less knowing." 

The following extracts, from the records of the county court 
of Accomac, exemplify the simplicity of the times, and the 
quaint orthography, and the verbosity of the records of courts; 
while the final decision of the case is not less equitable than those 
of Sancho Panza, sometime Governor of the Island of Barataria, 
or those celebrated in Knickerbocker's History of New York. 

"At a Court held in Accomack County, y e 16 th of November, 
by his ma ties Justices of y e Peace for y e s d County, in y 6 Seaven- 
teenth yeare of y e Beigne of o r Sovraigne Lord Charles y e Second, 
By y e Grace of God, of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland, 
King, Defender of y e Faith, &c. : And in y e Yeare of o r Lord 
God 1665. 

"Whereas, Cornelius Watkinson, Philip Howard, and William 
Darby, were this Day accused by Mr. Jno. Fawsett, his ma" PS 
Attory for Accomack County, for acting a play by them called 
y e Bare & y e Cubb, on y e 27 th of August last past; upon exami- 
nation of the same, The Court have thought fitt to suspend the 
Cause till y e next Court, & doe order y 4 the said Cornelius Wat- 



262 ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 

kinson, Phillip Howard, & W m - Darby, appeare y e next Court, in 
those habilemts that they then acted in, and give a draught of 
such verses, or other speeches and passages, which were then 
acted by them; & that y e Sherr detaine Cornelius Watkinson & 
Philip Howard in His Custody untill they put in Security to per- 
forine this order. It is ordered j l the Sherr. arrest y e Body of 
William Darby, for his appearance y e next Court, to answere at 
his ma ties suit, for being actour of a play commonly called y e 
Beare and y e Cubb. 

"At a Court held in Accomack County, y e 18 th of December, 
by his ma tie8 Justices of y e Peace for y e s' 1 County, in y e Seaven- 
teenth yeare of y e Raigne of o r Sovraigne Lord Charles y e Se- 
cond, By y° Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, & Ireland, 
King, Defendr of y e Faith, &c. : And in y e yeare of o r Lord God 
1665. 

"Its ordered y* y e Sherr sumons Edward Martin to y e next 
Court, to show cause why hee should not pay y e charges w ch ac- 
crued upon y e Information given by him against Cornelius Wat- 
kinson, Philip Howard, & William Darby. 

"At a Court held in Accomack County, y e 17 th of January, 
by his ma ties Justices of y e Peace for y e s d County, in the Seaven- 
teenth year of y e Reigne of o r Sovraigne Lord Charles y e Second, 
By y e Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, 
King, Defender of the Faith, &c. : And in the year of o r Lord 
God 1665. 

"Whereas, Edward Martin was this day examined concerning 
his information given to Mr. Fawset, his ma ties Attory for Acco- 
mack County, about a play called the bare & y e Cubb, whereby 
severall persons were brought to Court & charges thereon arise, 
but the Court finding the said p'sons not guilty of fault, sus- 
pended y e payment of Court charges; & forasmuch as it ap- 
peareth upon y e Oath of y e said Mr. Fawsett, that upon y e s d Ed- 
ward Martin's information, the Charge & trouble of that suit did 
accrew, It's therefore ordered that y e said Edward Martin pay all 
y° Charges in y e suit Els. Exon."* 

* " The foregoing are true transcripts from the Records of the Court of the 
County of Accomack, in the State of Virginia." — Test : J. W. Gillett, C. A. C. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

166fc}-167'5. 

Plot discovered — Miscellaneous Matters — England at war with the Dutch — The 
Plague in London — Tobacco — Forts — Cessation of planting Tobacco for one 
year — Drummond's Petition rejected — Baptism of Slaves — Tributary Indians 
— Batt's Expedition — The Algonquin Tribes — The Powhatan Confederacy — 
Convicts sent to Virginia — Legislative Acts. 

The Northern colonies appear at this time to have been styled 
the "Dutch Plantations."* The persecution of the dissenters, 
the restrictions imposed upon commerce by the navigation act, the 
low price of tobacco, and high price of imported goods, so in- 
flamed the discontents of the poor people as to give rise to a plot, 
which was well-nigh resulting in tragical eifects in 1668. The 
conspiracy was attributed to certain Cromwellian soldiers, who had 
been sent out to Virginia as servants; but the real grounds and 
true character of it can now hardly be ascertained. The plot was 
discovered only the night before that appointed for its execution, 
(the assembly being then in session,) by one of the conspirators 
named Birkenhead, a servant to Mr. Smith, of Purton, in Glou- 
cester County. Poplar Spring, near that place, was the appointed 
rendezvous. As soon as the information reached Sir William 
Berkley, who was then at his residence, Green Spring, he issued 
secret orders to a party of militia, to meet at Poplar Spring, and 
anticipate the outbreak. Only a few were taken, of whom four 
were hanged. Birkenhead was rewardedf with his freedom and 
five thousand pounds of tobacco ; Beverley! makes the reward two 
hundred pounds sterling. The thirteenth of September, the day 
fixed for the execution of the plot, was set apart by the assembly 
as an anniversary thanksgiving. The news of this affair being 
transmitted to the king, he sent orders for the building of a fort 



* Honing, ii. 188. f Ibid., ii. 204. % Beverley, B. i. Gl. 

(263) 



264 HISTORY OP THE COLONY AND 

at Jamestown; but the Virginians thinking that the danger had 
blown over, only erected a battery of some small pieces of 
cannon. 

The Indian chief of Potomac, and other northern werowances 
and mangais, were required to give hostages of their children 
and others, who were to be kindly treated and instructed in Eng- 
lish, as far as practicable. Measures were taken to bring Indian 
murderers to justice, especially the hostile Doeggs. The chief 
of Potomac was inhibited from holding any matchacomico, or 
council, with any strange tribe, before the delivery of host- 
ages. 

John Bland, a London merchant, and brother of Theodoric 
Bland, a leading man in Virginia, received the thanks of the 
assembly for goods advanced for the use of the colony. In this 
year, 1663, a conference was held, by royal command, at Mr. 
Aleston's, at Wicocomico, in Virginia, in May, by commissioners 
appointed by Governor Berkley, and Charles Calvert, Gover- 
nor of Maryland, for the purpose of devising means of improv- 
ing the staple of tobacco. The Virginia commissioners were 
Thomas Ludwell, secretary, Richard Lee, John Carter, Robert 
Smith, and Henry Corbin. The Maryland commissioners were 
Philip Calvert, Henry Sewall, secretary, Edward Koydes, and 
Henry Coursey. They recommended that in the year 1664 no 
tobacco should be planted after the twentieth day of June. 

In 1665 further acts were passed to prevent the depredations 
of Indians. If a white should be murdered, the nearest Indian 
town was held responsible ; the Indian werowances to be in fu- 
ture appointed by the governor ; colonists to go armed to church, 
court, and other public meetings ; Indians south of the James River, 
not to cross a line extending from the head of Blackwater River 
to the Appomattox Indian town, (probably where Petersburg 
now stands,) and thence across to the Mannakin town. 

In the year 1665 Charles the Second, instigated by France, 
engaged in an unprovoked war with Holland, the object being 
mainly to strike a blow at the Protestant interest.* During the 
same year the plague raged in London, the victims for some time 

* Evelyn's Diary, i. 391. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 265 

perishing at the rate of ten thousand weekly. In this fatal year 
Secretary Bennet, a plausible man, of good address, but mediocre 
capacity, was made Lord Arlington. The English monopolizing 
laws, now reduced the condition of the planters of Virginia so 
low, that they proposed to discontinue the planting of tobacco for 
one year, so as to enhance the price of it; and an act was passed 
preparatory to a "stint or cessation." To render this remedy 
effectual, it appeared necessary to obtain the co-operation of the 
colonies of Maryland and North Carolina. For some years it 
was found impracticable to effect this object, and in the mean 
time, in order to prevent Virginia from receiving any supplies, 
save those sent from England, and also for defence against the 
Dutch, the king sent directions that forts should be built on the 
rivers, and that ships should lie under them, and that those places 
alone should be ports of trade. These instructions were obeyed 
for a year; breast-works were erected at places appointed by the 
assembly, and the shipping lay at them for a time ; but the great 
fire and plague occurring in London at this juncture, rendered 
their supplies very uncertain, and the fear of the plague being 
brought over with the goods imported, prevented the people from 
living at those ports, and thus all were again at liberty.* 

The Virginia planters supposed that by lessening the quantity 
of tobacco, called a "stint," they would improve the quality and 
enhance the price of it. The merchants, to whom the planters 
were indebted, were favorable to a stint ; but although they would 
certainly be benefited by its operation, yet they were apparently 
not willing to abate any part of their claims against their debtors. 
The nett proceeds derived from the sale of the staple were barely 
enough to furnish the planters with clothing. As some remedy 
for this state of things, the legislature ordered looms and work- 
houses to be set in operation at the charge of each county. 
Bounties were again offered for encouragement of the raising of 
silk, and measures were adopted to foster the culture of flax and 
hemp. 

In the year 1666, while London was desolated by fire and de- 
populated by the plague, war added her horrors. A government 

* Beverley, B. i. 63. 



266 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

imbecile and corrupt, a court frivolous and debauched, darkened 
the shadows of the gloomy picture. The English colonies shared 
in the miseries of the mother country. It is remarkable that a 
book published in England many years before contained a pre- 
diction that the year 1666 would be the very climax of public 
disaster.* It was not unreasonable to conclude, that the wicked- 
ness of men had been directly avenged by a visitation of Heaven. 
Evelynf says: "These judgments we highly deserved for our 
prodigious ingratitude, burning lusts, dissolute court, profane and 
abominable lives." 

The assembly met in September, 1664, by prorogation from 
the preceding September — a compendious mode of dispensing 
with the popular election. However, in act vi., the assembly, de- 
claring that the principal end of their coming together was to 
provide for the people's safety, and to redress their grievances, 
ordered that in future due notice of the convening of the bur- 
gesses should be given to the people by publication in the parish 
churches, so that they may then make known their grievances. 
The act for a "cessation" passed in June, 1666, commanded that 
no tobacco should be planted between the 1st of February, 1667, 
and the 1st of February, 1668. | The governor of Carolina at 
this time, and the first governor of that province, was William 
Drummond, a native of Scotland. 

Similar acts were passed by Maryland and Carolina, but the 
latter province, owing to trouble with the Indians, not having 
given formal notice by the day agreed upon, Maryland availed 
herself of the informality to decline enforcing the cessation. 
Thus, as has been before mentioned, action was long delayed. 
Virginia, nevertheless, adhering to the scheme, again, at the ses- 
sion of October of the same year, confirmed her former act, and 
by dint of negotiation it was finally consummated. 



* Pepy's Diary, ii. f Diary, ii. 17. 

J The commissioners appointed to treat with Maryland and Carolina on this 
subject were, of the council, Thomas Ludwell, Esq., secretary of Virginia, Ma- 
jor-General Robert Smith, and Major-General Richard Bennet; and of the bur- 
gesses, Robert Wynne, speaker, Colonel Nich. Spencer, Captain Daniel Parke, 
Captain Joseph Bridger, Captain Peter Jennings, and Mr. Thomas Ballard. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 267 

The County of Stafford is mentioned in this year for the first 
time, and it was now represented by a burgess, Colonel Henry 
Mees. 

The petition of William Drum, probably a misprint for Drum- 
mond, concerning a grant of land in what was commonly called 
"the governor's land," in the main reserve, was rejected, the 
house being of opinion that such grants appertained only to the 
governor and council. The assembly asserted their right to 
assess the levy without the interposition of the governor and 
council; and Sir William Berkley assented to this decision; the 
sincerity of the terms in which he expressed his willing acquies- 
cence may well be doubted. 

The Dutch about this time appear to have surprised several 
vessels, laden with tobacco, in the James River; and it was de- 
termined to erect several forts : one on James River, one on Nan- 
semond River, one on York River at Tindall's Point, (now Glou- 
cester Point,) one on the Rappahannock at Corotoman, and one 
on the Potomac at Yeohocomico. 

It was declared that baptism did not exempt slaves from bond- 
age. As the reducing of negroes to slavery was justified on the 
ground that they were heathens, so the opinion prevailed among 
some that when they ceased to be heathens they were, by the 
very fact, released from slavery. 

In 1668, peace being restored, vessels were relieved from the 
necessity of anchoring under the forts. The war with the Dutch, 
unjustly commenced by the English, ended very disgracefully to 
them. A day of humiliation was appointed, and all persons 
were required to attend the parish churches, "with fasting and 
prayers, to implore God's mercy, and deprecate the evils justly 
impending over us." 

It was ordered that work-houses should be built in each county, 
for the instruction of poor children in spinning, weaving, and 
other useful occupations and trades. An act was passed for the 
" suppressing and restraint of the exhorbitant number of ordinaries 
and tippling houses." 

The Indians were required to bring in one hundred and forty- 
five wolves' heads annually, the reward for each head being one 



268 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

hundred pounds of tobacco and cask. To prevent fraud, the ears 
"were cut off from the heads of the wolves.* 

The elective franchise was restricted, in 1670, to freeholders 
and housekeepers. 

Sir William Berkley sent out a company of fourteen English 
and as many Indians, under Captain Henry Batt, to explore the 
country to the west. Setting out from the Appomattox River, 
in seven days they reached the foot of the mountains. The first 
ridge "was not found very high or steep, but after crossing that 
they encountered others that seemed to touch the clouds, and so 
steep that in a day's march they could not advance more than 
three miles. They came upon extensive valleys of luxuriant ver- 
dure, abounding with turkeys, deer, elk, and buffalo, gentle and, 
as yet, undisturbed by the fear of man. Grapes were seen of the 
size of plums. After crossing the mountains they discovered a 
charming level country, and a rivulet that flowed westward. Fol- 
lowing this for some days, they reached old fields and cabins re- 
cently occupied by the natives; in these Batt left toys. Not far 
from the cabins, at some marshes, the Indian guides halted and 
refused to go any farther, saying that not far off dwelt a powerful 



* The tributary Indians of Virginia at this period were, in 

Bowmen, or Hunters. 

Nansemond County 45 

„ ~ f Powchay-icks 30 

Surrey County { Weyenoakes 15 

(Men Heyricks 50 
Nottoways, two towns 90 
Appamattox 50 

,, . „ f Manachees 30 

Henrico County | Pow hites 10 

fPamunkeys 50 

I Chickahominies 60 

New Kent County J Mattaponeys 20 

I Rappahannocks 30 

[Totas-Chees 40 

Gloucester Chiskoyackes 15 

f Portobaccoes 60 

Rappahanock -j Nanzcattico )_ tq 

[ Mattehatique J 

Northumberland Co Wickacomico 70 

Westmoreland County...Appomattox , 10 

Total 725 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 269 

tribe, that never suffered strangers, who discovered their towns, 
to escape. Batt was therefore reluctantly compelled to return. 
Upon receiving his report, Sir William Berkley resolved to make 
an exploration himself, but his intention was frustrated by the 
troubles that shortly after fell upon the country.* Beverley 
alone gives an account of Batt's explorations, leaving the date 
of it uncertain between 1666 and 1676. Burk dates it in 1667. 

The Algonquin tribes are said to have been included within 
lines extending from Cape Hatteras to the head of the Missis- 
sippi, and thence eastward to the coast north of Newfoundland, and 
thence along the Atlantic shore to the cape first mentioned. f 
The bulk of the Indians within this triangle spoke various dia- 
lects of the same generic language. 

The thirty tribes of Indians comprised within the Powhatan 
confederacy, south of the Potomac, at the time of the landing at 
Jamestown, are conjecturally estimated at about eight thousand 
souls, being one to the square mile.J The population of the 
mountain country was probably sparser than that of the country 
east of the mountains. The number of square miles in Virginia 
at the present day is upwards of sixty-five thousand. The num- 
ber of warriors belonging to the tribes tributary to Virginia in 1669, 
as has been before mentioned, was seven hundred and twenty-five, 
and their proportion to the entire population being reckoned as 
three to ten, their aggregate number was about twenty-four hun- 
dred. Thus in about sixty years the diminution of their numbers 
amounted to about five thousand six hundred ; of these, part had 
perished from disease, exposure, famine, and war; the rest were 
driven back into the wilderness. 

In the year 1670 complaints were made to the general court by 
members of the council and others, being gentlemen, of the coun- 
ties of York, Gloucester, and Middlesex, representing their ap- 
prehensions of danger from the great number of felons, and other 
desperate villains, sent hither from the prisons of England. 
Masters of vessels were prohibited from landing any such con- 
victs or jail-birds. In 1671 Captain Bristow and Captain Walker 

* Beverley, B. i. 64. f P. W". Leland, in Hist. Mag., iii. 41. 

X Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, 97 ; Hening, ii. 274. 



270 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

were required to give security in the sum of one million pounds 
of tobacco and cask, that Mr. Nevett should send out the New- 
gate-birds within two months. Mr. Jefferson* has made the fol- 
lowing remark: "The malefactors sent to America were not suf- 
ficient in number to merit enumeration as one class out of three 
which peopled America. It was at a late period of their history 
that the practice began. I have no book by me which enables 
me to point out the date of its commencement ; but I do not think 
the whole number sent would amount to two thousand." And he 
supposed that they and their descendants did not, in 1786, ex- 
ceed four thousand, "which is little more than one-thousandth 
part of the whole inhabitants." Mr. Jefferson appears to have 
been mistaken in his opinion, that malefactors were not sent over 
until a late period in the annals of Virginia; and he probably 
underrated the number of their descendants. 

The acts prohibiting the exportation of wool, hides, and iron, 
were repealed, and every one was "permitted to make the best he 
can of his own commodity." The preamble to the act for the 
naturalization of foreigners declares, that "nothing can tend 
more to the advancement of a new plantation, either to its defence 
or prosperity, nor nothing more add to the glory of a prince, than 
being a gracious master of many subjects; nor any better way to 
produce those effects than the inviting of people of other nations 
to reside among us by communication of privileges."f 

In 1672 the assembly provided for the defence of the country 
by rebuilding and repairing of forts. Repeated and vigorous 
laws were enacted providing for the apprehension of runaways; 
rewards were offered the Indians for apprehending them. A 
neoro slave was valued at four thousand five hundred pounds of 
tobacco ; an Indian slave at three thousand pounds of tobacco. 

* Writings of Jefferson, i. 405. f Ilening, ii. 289. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

1670-16^1. 

Governor Berkley's Reply to Inquiries of the Lords Commissioners of Planta- 
tions — Government of Virginia — Militia — Forts — Indians — Boundary — Com- 
modities' — Population — Health — Trade — Restrictions on it — Governor's Salary 
— Quit-rents — Parishes — Free Schools, and Printing. 

The lords commissioners of foreign plantations, in 1670, were 
Arlington, Ashley, Richard George W. Alington, T. Clifford, S. 
Trevor, Orlando Bridgeman, C. S. Sandwich, president, Thomas 

Grey, Titus, A. Broucher, H. Slingsby, secretary, Hum. 

Winch, and Edmund Waller. These, during this year, pro- 
pounded inquiries to Sir William Berkley, governor, respecting 
the state and condition of Virginia; and his answers made in the 
year following present a satisfactory statistical account of the co- 
lony. The executive consisted of a governor and sixteen coun- 
cillors, commissioned by the king, to determine all causes above 
fifteen pounds; causes of less amount were tried by county 
courts, of which there were twenty. The assembly met every 
year, composed of two burgesses from each county. Appeals lay 
to the assembly; and this body levied the taxes. (This power 
was delegated for some years to the executive.) The legislative 
and executive powers rested in the governor, council, assembly, 
and subordinate officers. The secretary of the colony sent the 
acts of the assembly to the lord chancellor, or one of the princi- 
pal secretaries of state. All freemen were bound to muster 
monthly in their own counties; the force of the colony amounted 
to upwards of eight thousand horsemen. There were five forts: 
two on the James, and one on each of the three rivers, Rappahan- 
nock, York, and Potomac; the number of cannon was thirty. 
His majesty, during the late Dutch war, had sent over thirty 
more, but the most of them were lost at sea. The Indians were 
in perfect subjection. The eastern boundary of Virginia, on the 
sea-coast, had been reduced from ten degrees to half of one de- 

(271) 



272 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

gree. Tobacco was the only commodity of any great value; 
exotic mulberry-trees bad been planted, and attempts made to 
manufacture silk. There was plenty of timber; of iron ore but 
little discovered. The whole population was forty thousand; of 
which two thousand were negro slaves, and six thousand white 
servants. (The negroes had increased one hundredfold in fifty 
years, since 1619, when the first were imported.) The average 
annual importation of servants was about fifteen hundred; most 
of them English, a few Scotch, fewer Irish; and not more than 
two or three ships with negroes in seven years. New plantations 
were found sickly, and in such four-fifths of the new settlers died. 
Eighty vessels arrived yearly from England and Ireland for to- 
bacco ; a few small coasters came from New England. Virginia 
had not more than two vessels of her own, and those not over 
twenty tons. Sir William Berkley complains bitterly of the act 
of parliament restricting the commerce of Virginia to the British 
kingdom — a policy injurious to both parties; and he adds that 
"this is the cause why no small or great vessels are built here; 
for we are most obedient to all laws, while the New England men 
break through and trade to any place that their interest leads 
them to." Sir William gave it as his opinion, that nothing could 
improve the trade of Virginia, unless she was allowed to export 
her staves, timber, and corn to other places besides the king's do- 
minions. The only duty levied was that of two shillings on every 
hogshead of tobacco exported ; the exportation of the year 1671 
amounting to fifteen thousand hogsheads. Out of this revenue 
the king allowed the governor one thousand pounds, to which 
the assembly added two hundred more, making twelve hundred 
pounds, which was four-fifths of the entire customs revenue for 
that year. Yet he complains: "I can knowingly affirm, that 
there is no government of ten years' settlement but has thrice as 
much allowed him. But I am supported by my hopes, that his 
gracious majesty will one day consider me." 

The king had no revenue in the colony except quit-rents ; these 
were not of much value, and the king gave them to Colonel Henry 
Norwood. Every man instructed his children at home according 
to his ability. " There were forty-eight parishes, and our minis- 
ters are well paid ; by my consent should be better, if they would 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 273 

pray oftener, and preach less. But as of all other commodities, 
so of this, the worst are sent us ; and we have had few that we 
could boast of, since Cromwell's tyranny drove divers men hither. 
But I thank God there are no free schools, nor printing, and I 
hope we shall not have these hundred years; for learning has 
brought disobedience into the world, and printing has divulged 
them and libels against the best governments. God keep us 
from both!"* 



* Hening, ii. 511. 

18 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



1673-1G7G. 



Acts of Assembly — The Northern Neck — Earl of Arlington — Threatened Revolt 
in 1674 — Agents sent to England to solicit a Revocation of the Grants of Ter- 
ritory and to obtain a Charter — The effort fruitless. 

The acts of a session were headed as follows: "At a Grand 
Assembly liolden at James City, by prorogation from the 24th 
day of September, 1672, to the 20th of October, Annoque Regni 
Regis Caroli Secundi Dei Gratia Anglise, Scotise, Francise et 
Hibernise, Regis, fidei Defensoris, &c, Anno Domini 1673. 
To the glory of Almighty God and public weal, of this his ma- 
jesty's colony of Virginia, were enacted as followeth." 

Provision was made during this year for a supply of arms and 
ammunition. The commissioners appointed for determining the 
boundaries of the Counties of Northumberland and Lancaster 
were Colonel John Washington, Captain John Lee, Captain Wil- 
liam Traverse, William Mosely, and Robert Beverley. 

The restoration, that worst of all governments, re-established 
an arbitrary and oppressive administration in Virginia in church 
and state; and as soon as reinstated, tyranny, confident of its 
power, rioted in wanton and unbridled license. 

The grant which had been made by Charles the Second in the 
first year of his reign, dated at St. Germain en Laye, of the 
Northern Neck, including four counties and a half, to Lord Hop- 
ton, the Earl of St. Albans, Lord Culpepper, etc., was surren- 
dered , in May, 1671, to the crown, and new letters-patent were 
issued, with some alterations, to the Earl of St. Albans, Lord 
Berkley, Sir William Morton, and others, — to hold the same 
forever, paying annually the quit-rent of six pounds thirteen 
shillings and four pence to his majesty and his successors. In 
February, 1673, the king granted to the Earl of Arlington and 
Thomas, Lord Culpepper, the entire territory of Virginia, not 
merely the wild lands, but private plantations long settled and 
(274) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. Zti> 

improved, for the term of thirty-one years, at the yearly rent of 
forty shillings. The patents entitled them to all rents and es- 
cheats, with power to convey all vacant lands, nominate sheriffs, 
escheators, surveyors, etc., present to all churches and endow 
them with lands, to form counties, parishes, etc. Although the 
grants to these noblemen were limited to a term of years, yet 
they were preposterously and illegally authorized to make convey- 
ances in fee simple.* 

Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington, said to have been the best bred 
person at court, like his master, as far as he had any pretension 
whatever to religion, was a disguised Papist. He became allied 
to the monarch as father-in-law to the first Duke of Grafton, the 
king's son by Lady Castlemaine. Arlington had received, while 
fighting on the royal side in the civil war, a wound on the nose, 
the scar of which was covered with a black patch. Barbara Vil- 
liers, only daughter of William, Viscount Grandison, and wife of 
Roger Palmer, created Earl of Castlemaine in 1661, distinguished 
for her beauty and her profligacy, becoming mistress to Charles 
at his restoration, was made, in 1670, Duchess of Cleveland. 
Henry Bennet was created Baron of Arlington in 1663, and Vis- 
count Hetford and Earl of Arlington in 1672. He was also 
Knight of the Garter and chamberlain to the king, his chief 
favorite, companion in profligate pleasure, and political adviser. 
He and Culpepper were members of the commission of trade and 
plantations. 

The Virginians grew so impatient under their accumulated 
grievances that a revolt was near bursting forth in 1674, but no 
person of note taking the lead, it was suppressed by the advice of 
"some discreet persons," and the insurgents were persuaded to 
disperse in compliance with the governor's proclamation. The 
movement was not entirely ineffectual, for justices of the peace 
were prohibited from levying any more taxes for their own emolu- 
ment, f The assembly determined to make an humble address 
"to his sacred majesty," praying for a revocation of the fore- 
mentioned grants of her territory, and for a confirmation of the 
rights and privileges of the colony. Francis Morrison, Thomas 

* Hcning, ii. 519. f Ibid., ii. 315. 



276 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

Ludwell, and Robert Smith were appointed agents to visit Eng- 
land and lay their complaints before the king ; and their expenses 
were provided for by onerous taxes, which fell heaviest on the 
poorer class of people. These expenses included douceurs to be 
given to courtiers ; for without money nothing could be effected 
at the venal court of Charles the Second.* Besides the revoca- 
tion of the patents, the Virginia agents were instructed to ' en- 
deavor to obtain a new charter for the colony. They prayed 
"that Virginia shall no more be transferred in parcels to indivi- 
duals, but may remain forever dependent on the crown of Eng- 
land ; that the public officers should be obliged to reside within 
the colony; that no tax shall be laid on the inhabitants except 
by the assembly." This petition affords a curious commentary 
on the panegyrics then but recently lavished by "his majesty's 
most loyal colony" upon his "most sacred majesty," who repaid 
their fervid loyalty by an unrelenting system of oppression. The 
negotiations were long, and display evidence of signal diplomatic 
ability, together with elevated and patriotic views of colonial 
rights and constitutional freedom. After many evasions and 
much delay, the mission eventually proved fruitless. f Applica- 
tion was also made to Secretary Coventry to secure the place of 
governor to Sir William Berkley for life. 

* Account of Bacon's Rebellion in Va. Gazette, 1766. 
f Hening, ii. 518, 531. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

1G7-S. 

The Reverend Morgan Godwyn's Letter describing Condition of the Church in 

Virginia. 

The Bishop of Winchester, during the whole negotiation, lent 
his assistance to the agents; he also brought to their notice a 
libel which had been published against all the Anglo-American 
plantations, especially Virginia. It was written by the Rev. 
Morgan Godwyn, who had served some time in Virginia; and he 
had given a copy of it to each of the bishops. The agents make 
mention of him as "the fellow," and "the inconsiderable wretch." 
They sent a copy of it to Virginia, thinking it necessary that a 
reply should be prepared, and addressed to the Bishop of Win- 
chester and the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is probable that 
this pamphlet is no longer extant; but the character of its con- 
tents may be inferred from a letter addressed by the author to 
Sir William Berkley, and appended to a pamphlet published by 
him in 1680, entitled the "Negro's and Indian's Advocate." 
Indeed this letter may have been itself the libellous pamphlet 
circulated in England in 1674, and referred to by the Virginia 
agents. In this letter Godwyn gives the following account of the 
state of religion, as it was in that province some time before the 
late rebellion, i.e. Bacon's, which occurred in 1676. Godwyn 
acknowledges that Berkley had, "as a tender father, nourished 
and preserved Virginia in her infancy and nonage. But as our 
blessed Lord," he reminds him, "once said to the young man in 
the gospel, 'Yet lackest thou one thing;' so," he adds, "may we, 
and I fear too truly, say of Virginia, that there is one thing, the 
propagation and establishing of religion in her, wanting." And 
this he essays to prove in various ways: saying that "the minis- 
ters are most miserably handled by their plebeian juntos, the ves- 
tries, to whom the hiring (that is the usual word there) and ad- 

(277) 



97J 



HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 



mission of ministers is solely left. And there being no law 
obliging them to any more than to procure a lay reader, (to be ob- 
tained at a very moderate rate,) they cither resolve to have none 
at all, or reduce them to their own terms; that is, to use them 
how they please, pay them what they list, and to discard them 
whensoever they have a mind to it. And this is the recompense 
of their leaving their hopes in England, (far more considerable 
to the meanest curate than what can possibly be apprehended 
there.) together with the friends and relations and their native 
soil, to venture their lives into those parts among strangers and 
enemies to their profession, who look upon them as a burden; as 
being with their families (where they have any) to be supported 
out of their labor. So that I dare boldly aver that our dis- 
couragements there are much greater than ever they were here in 
England under the usurper." After citing various evidences in 
support of these statements, among which he specifies the hiring 
of the clergy from year to year, and compelling them to accept 
of parishes at under-rates, Godwyn thus proceeds: "I would not 
be thought to reflect herein upon your excellency, who have 
always professed great tenderness 'for churchmen. For, alas ! 
these things are kept from your ears; nor dare they, had they 
opportunity, acquaint you with them, for fear of being used 
worse. And there being no superior clergyman, neither in coun- 
cil nor any place of authority, for them to address their com- 
plaints to, and by his means have their grievances brought to 
your excellency's knowledge, they are left without remedy. 
Again, two-thirds of the preachers are made up of leaden lay 
priests of the vestry's ordination; and are both the shame and 
grief of the rightly ordained clergy there. Nothing of this ever 
reaches your excellency's ear; these hungry patrons knowing 
better how to benefit by their vices than by the virtues of the 
other." And here Godwyn cites an instance of a writing-master, 
who came into Virginia, professing to be a doctor in divinity, 
showing; feigned letters of orders, and under different names con- 
tinuing in various places to carry on his work of fraud. He 
states also that owing to a law of the colony, which enacted that 
four years' servitude should be the penalty exacted of any one who 
permitted himself to be sent thither free of charge, some of the 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 279 

clergy, through ignorance of the law, were left thereby under the 
mastery of persons who had given them the means of gratuitous 
transport; and that they could only escape from such bondage 
by paying a ransom four or five times as large as that to which 
the expenses of their passage would have amounted. Moreover, 
he describes the parishes as extending, some of them, sixty or 
seventy miles in length, and lying void for many years together, 
to save charges. Jamestown, he distinctly states, had been left, 
with short intervals, in this destitute condition for twenty years. 
"Laymen," he adds, "were allowed to usurp the office of minis- 
ters, and deacons to undermine and thrust out presbyters; in a 
word, all things concerning the church and religion were left to 
the mercy of the people." And, last of all: "To propagate 
Christianity among the heathen — whether natives or slaves 
brought from other parts — although (as must piously be sup- 
posed) it were the only end of God's discovering those countries 
to us, yet is that looked upon by our new race of Christians, so 
idle and ridiculous, so utterly needless and unnecessary, that no 
man can forfeit his judgment more than by any proposal looking 
or tending that way." Such is the Eev. Mr. Godwyn's account 
of the state of religion and the condition of the clergy in Vir- 
ginia during Sir William Berkley's administration.* 



* Anderson's Hist, of Col. Church, first edition, ii. 558, 5G1. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



Lands at Greenspring settled on Sir William Berkley — Indian Incursions — 
Force put under command of Sir Henry Chicheley — Disbanded by Governor's 
Order — The Long Parliament of Virginia — Colonial Grievances — Spirit of the 
Virginians — Elements of Disaffection. 

The lands at Greenspring, near Jamestown, were settled during 
this year on Sir William Berkley, the preamble to the act reciting 
among his merits, "the great pains he hath taken and hazards 
he has run, even of his life, in the government and preservation 
of the country from many attempts of the Indians, and also in 
preserving us in our due allegiance to his majesty's royal father 
of blessed memory, and his now most sacred majesty, against all 
attempts, long after all his majesty's other dominions were sub- 
jected to the tyranny of the late usurpers; and also seriously 
considering that the said Sir William Berkley hath in all time 
of his government, under his most sacred majesty and his royal 
father, made it his only care to keep his majesty's country in a 
due obedience to our rightful and lawful sovereign," etc. The 
Rev. John Clayton, (supposed to be father of the Virginia 
naturalist,) writing in 1688, says: "There is a spring at my 
Lady Berkley's called Green Spring, whereof I have been often 
told, so very cold, that 'tis dangerous drinking thereof in summer 
time, it having proved of fatal consequence to several. I never 
tried anything of what nature it is of." 

The Indians having renewed their incursions upon the frontier, 
the people petitioned the governor for protection. Upon the 
meeting of the assembly, war was declared against them in March, 
1676; five hundred men enlisted, and the forts garrisoned. The 
force raised was put under command of Sir Henry Chicheley, 
who was ordered to disarm the neighboring Indians. The forts 
were on the Potomac, at the falls of the Rappahannock, (now 
Fredericksburg.) on the Matapony, on the Pamunkey, at the falls 
(280) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 281 

of the Appomattox, (now Petersburg,) either at Major-General 
"Wood's, or at Fleets', on the opposite side of the river, on the Black- 
water, and at the head of the Nansemond. Provision was made 
for employing Indians; articles of martial law were adopted; 
arms to be carried to church; the governor authorized to disband 
the troops when expedient; days of fasting appointed. The In- 
dians having been emboldened to commit depredations and mur- 
ders by the arms and ammunition which they had received, con- 
trary to law, from traders, a rigorous act was passed to restrain 
such. When Sir Henry Chicheley was about to march against 
the Indians he was ordered by Sir William Berkley to disband 
his forces, to the general surprise and dissatisfaction of the colony. 

There had now been no election of burgesses since the res- 
toration, in 1G60, the same legislature since that time having 
continued, to hold its sessions by prorogation. It may be called 
the Long Parliament of Virginia in respect to its duration. 
Among its members may be mentioned Colonel William Clay- 
borne, Captain William Berkley, Captain Daniel Parke, Adju- 
tant-General Jennings, Colonel John Washington, Colonel Ed- 
ward Scarburgh. Robert Wynne was made speaker shortly after 
the restoration, and so continued until 1676, when he was suc- 
ceeded by Augustine Warner, of Gloucester. James Minge, of 
Charles City, was now the clerk, and had been for several years. 

The price of tobacco was depressed by the monopoly of the 
English navigation act, and the cost of imported goods, enhanced. 
Duties were laid on the commerce between one colony and 
another, and the revenue thence derived was absorbed by the 
collecting officers. The planters, it is said,* had been driven to 
seek a remedy by destroying the crop in the fields, called "plant 
cutting." The endeavors of the agents in England to obtain a 
release from the grants to the lords and a new charter, appeared 
abortive. The Indian incursions occurring at this conjuncture, 
filled the measure of panic and exasperation. Groaning under 
exactions and grievances, and tortured by apprehensions, the Vir- 
ginians began to meditate violent measures of relief. Many of 
the feudal institutions of England, the hoary buttresses of mediae- 

* Account of Bacon's Rebellion, in Va. Gazette, 17GG. 



282 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

val power, could have no existence in America; a new position 
gradually moulded a new system; and men transplanted to 
another hemisphere changed opinions as well as clime. Thus, in 
Virginia, the most Anglican, oldest, and most loyal of the colo- 
nies, a spirit of freedom and independence infused itself into the 
minds of the planters. The ocean that separated them from 
England lessened the terror of a distant sceptre. The supremacy 
of law being less firmly established, especially in the frontier, a 
wild spirit of justice had arisen which was apt to decline into 
contempt of authority. Added to this, the colony contained 
malecontent Cromwellian soldiers reduced to bondage, perhaps 
some of them men of heroic soul, victims of civil Avar, ripe for 
revolt. The Indian massacres of former years made the colonists 
sensitive to alarms, and impatient of indifference to their cruel 
apprehensions, which can hardly be realized by those who have 
never been subjected to such dangers. The fatigues, privations, 
hardships, perils of a pioneer life, imparted energy; the wild 
magnificence of nature, the fresh luxuriance of a virgin soil, un- 
pruned forests, great rivers and hoary mountains, these contri- 
buted to kindle a love of liberty and independence. Moreover, 
the disaffection of the colonists was somewhat emboldened by 
the civil dissensions of England, which appeared now again to 
threaten the stability of the throne. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Three Ominous Presages — Siege of Piscataway — Colonel John Washington — In- 
dian Chiefs put to death — Fort evacuated — Indians murder Inhabitants of 
Frontier — Servant and Overseer of Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., slain — The People take 
up Arms — Bacon chosen Leader — His Character — Solicits Commission from 
Berkley — He proclaims the Insurgents Behels — Pursues them — Planters of 
Lower Country revolt — Forts dismantled — Rebellion not the Result of Bacon's 
Pique or Ambition — He marches into the Wilderness — Massacre of friendly 
Indians — Bacon returns — Elected a Burgess — Arrested— Released on Parole — 
Assembly meets — Bacon sues for Pardon — Restored to the Council — Nathaniel 
Bacon, Sr. — Berkley issues secret Warrants for arrest of the younger Bacon. 

"About the year 1675," says an old writer, "appeared three 
prodigies in that country, which, from the attending disasters, were 
looked upon as ominous presages. The one was a large comet, 
every evening for a week or more at southwest, thirty-five degrees 
high, streaming like a horse-tail westward, until it reached (almost) 
the horizon, and setting toward the northwest. Another was 
flights of wild pigeons, in breadth nigh a quarter of the mid- 
hemisphere, and of their length was no visible end; whose 
weights broke down the limbs of large trees whereon these rested 
at nights, of which the fowlers shot abundance, and ate them; 
this sight put the old planters under the more portentous appre- 
hensions because the like was seen (as they said) in the year 
1644, when the Indians committed the last massacre; but not 
after, until that present year, 1675. The third strange pheno- 
menon was swarms of flies about an inch long, and big as the top 
of a man's little finger, rising out of spigot holes in the earth, 
which ate the new-sprouted leaves from the tops of the trees, 
without other harm, and in a month left us."* 

The author of this account, whose initials are T. M., says of 
himself, that he lived in Northumberland County, on the lower 

* T. M.'s Account of Bacon's Rebellion, in Force's Hist. Tracts, i. 

(283) 



284 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

part of the Potomac, where he was a merchant; but he had a 
plantation, servants, cattle, etc., in Stafford County, on the upper 
part of that river; and that he was elected a burgess from Staf- 
ford in 1676, Colonel Mason being his colleague. T. M., perhaps, 
was Thomas Matthews, son of Colonel Samuel Matthews, some 
time governor. He owned lands acquired from the Wicocomoco 
Indians in Northumberland, and it is probable that his son, 
Thomas Matthews, came into possession of them.* He appears 
to have lived at a place called Cherry Point, probably on the 
Potomac, in 1681. f 

On a Sunday morning, in the summer of 1675, a herdsman, 
named Robert Hen, together with an Indian, was slain in Staf- 
ford County, by a party of the hostile tribe of Doegs, and the 
victims were found by the people on their way to church. J Colo- 
nel Mason and Captain Brent, with some militia, pursued the 
offenders about twenty miles up the river, and then across into 
Maryland, and, coming upon two parties of armed warriors, 
slaughtered indiscriminately a number of them and of the Sus- 
quehannocks, a friendly tribe. These latter, recently expelled 
from their own country, at the head of the Chesapeake Bay, by 
the Senecas, a tribe of the Five Nations, now sought refuge in a 
fort of the Piscataways, a friendly tribe near the head of the 
Potomac, supposed to be near the spot where now stands the City 
of Washington. In a short time several Marylanders were mur- 
dered by the savages, and some Virginians in the County of Staf- 
ford. The fort on the north bank of the Piscataway consisted 
of high earth-works having flankers pierced with loop-holes, and 
surrounded by a ditch. This again was encircled by a row of 
tall trees from five to eight inches in diameter, set three feet in 
the earth and six inches apart, and wattled in such a manner as 
to protect those within, and, at the same time, to afford them 
apertures for shooting through. It was probably an old fort 
erected by Maryland as a protection to the frontier, but latterly 

* Hening, i 515, and ii. 14. f Va. Hist. Reg., i. 167. 

t For the following details, see T. M.'s Account ; Hening, ii. 341, 543 ; Bever- 
ley, B. i. 65 ; Keith's Hist, of Va., 156 ; Breviarie and Conclusion, Burk, ii. 250 ; 
Account of Bacon's Rebellion, in Va. Gazette, 1766, and Bacon's Proceedings, in 
Force's Hist. Tracts, i. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 285 

unoccupied. The Susquehannocks, to the number of one hundred 
warriors, with their old men, women, and children, entrenched 
themselves in this stronghold. Toward the end of September 
they were besieged by a thousand men from Virginia and Mary- 
land, united in a joint expedition, at the instance of the latter. 
The Marylanders were commanded by Major Thomas Truman, 
the Virginians by Colonel John Washington.* John Washing- 
ton had emigrated from Yorkshire, England, to Virginia in 1657, 
and purchased lands in Westmoreland. Not long after, being, 
as has been conjectured, a surveyor, he made a location of lands, 
which, however, was set aside until the Indians, to whom these 
lands had been assigned, should vacate them. In the year 166T 
he was a member of the house of burgesses. f 

To return to the siege: six of the Indian chiefs were sent out 
from the fort on a parley proposed by Major Truman. These 
chiefs, on being interrogated, laid the blame of the recent out- 
rages perpetrated in Virginia and Maryland upon the Senecas. 
Colonel Washington, Colonel Mason, and Major Adderton now 
came over from the Virginia encampment, and charged the chiefs 
with the murders that had been committed on the south side of 
the Potomac. On the next day the Virginia officers renewed the 
charges against the Susquehannock chiefs; at this juncture a de- 
tachment of rangers arrived, bringing with them the mangled 
bodies of some recent victims of Indian cruelty. Five of the 
chiefs were instantly bound, and put to death — "knocked on the 
head." The savages now made a desperate resistance; but their 
sorties were repelled, and they had to subsist partly on horses 
captured from the whites. At the end of six weeks, seventy-five 
warriors, with their women and children, (leaving only a few de- 
crepid old men behind,) evacuated the fort during the night, 
marching off by the light of the moon, killing ten of the militia 
found asleep, as they retired, and making the welkin ring with 

* Chalmers' Annals, 332, 335, 348 ; The Fall of the Susquehannocks, by S. F. 
Streeter, in Hist. Mag., i. 65. 

f Burk, ii. 144; Account of our Late Troubles in Virginia, written in 1676, 
by Mrs. Ann Cotton, of Queen's Creek, 3 in Force's Hist. Tracts, i. This cu- 
rious narrative was published from the original MS. in the Richmond Enquirer of 
September 12th, 1804. T. M.'s Account was republished in the same paper. 



286 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

the war-whoop and yells of defiance. They pursued their way 
by the head-waters of the Potomac, the Rappahannock, the York, 
and the James, joining with them the neighboring Indians, slay- 
ing such of the inhabitants as they met with on the frontier, to 
the number of sixty — sacrificing ten ordinary victims for each 
one of the chiefs they had lost. The Susquehannocks now sent 
a message to Governor Berkley, complaining of the war waged 
upon them, and of the murder of their chiefs, and proposing, if 
the Virginians, their old friends, would make them reparation for 
the damages which they had suffered, and dissolve their alliance 
with the Marylanders, they would renew their ancient friendship; 
otherwise they were ready for war.* 

At the falls of the James the savages had slain a servant of 
Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., and his overseer, to whom he was much 
attached. This was not the place of Bacon's residence; Bacon 
Quarter Branch, in the suburbs of Richmond, probably indicates 
the scene of the murder. Bacon himself resided at Curies, in 
Henrico county, on the lower James River. f It is said that 
when he heard of the catastrophe he vowed vengeance. In that 
time of panic, the more exposed and defenceless families, abandon- 
ing their homes, took shelter together in houses, where they forti- 
fied themselves with palisades and redoubts. Neighbors banding 
together, passed in co-operating parties, from plantation to plan- 
tation, taking arms with them into the fields where they labored, 
and posting sentinels, to give warning of the approach of the in- 
sidious foe. No man ventured out of doors unarmed. Even 
Jamestown was in danger. The red men, stealing with furtive 
glance through the shade of the forest, the noiseless tread of the 
moccasin scarce stirring a leaf, prowled around like panthers in 
quest of prey. At length the people at the head of the James 
and the York, having in vain petitioned the governor for protec- 
tion, alarmed at the slaughter of their neighbors, often murdered 
with every circumstance of barbarity, rose tumultuously in self- 

* Narrative of the Indian and Civil Wars in Va., in the years 1675 and 1676, 
1, in Force's Hist. Tracts, i. This account is evidently in the main, if not alto- 
gether, by the same hand with the letter bearing the signature of Mrs. Ann Cot- 
ton. Several passages are identical. 

f Account of Bacon's Rebellion, in Va. Gazette, 1766. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 287 

defence, to the number of three hundred men, including most, if 
not all the officers, civil and military, and chose Nathaniel Bacon, 
Jr., for their leader. According to another authority, Bacon, 
before the murder of his overseer and servant, had been refused 
the commission, and had sworn that upon the next murder he 
should hear of, he would march against the Indians, "commis- 
sion or no commission." And when one of his own family was 
butchered, "he got together about seventy or ninety persons, most 
good housekeepers, well armed," etc. Burk* makes their number 
"near six hundred men," and refers to ancient (MS.) records. 

Bacon had been living in the colony somewhat less than three 
years, having settled at Curies, on the lower James, in the midst 
of those people who were the greatest sufferers from the depreda- 
tions of the Indians, and he himself had frequently felt the effects 
of their inroads. In the records of the county court of Henrico 
there is a deed from Randolph to Randolph, dated November 1st, 
1706, conveying a tract of land called Curies, lately belonging to 
Nathaniel Bacon, Esq., and since found to escheat to his majesty. 
At the breaking out of these disturbances he was a member of 
the council. He was gifted with a graceful person, great abili- 
ties, and a powerful elocution, and was the most accomplished 
man in Virginia; his courage and resolution were not to be 
daunted, and his affability, hospitality, and benevolence, com- 
manded a wide popularity throughout the colony. 

The men who had put themselves under Bacon's command 
made preparations for marching against the Indians, but in the 
mean time sent again to obtain from the governor a commission 
of general for Bacon, with authority to lead out his followers, at 
their own expense, against the enemy. He then stood so high in 
the council, and the exigency of the case was so pressing, that 
Sir William Berkley, thinking it imprudent to return an absolute 
refusal, concluded to temporize. Some of the leading men about 
him, it was believed, took occasion to foment the difference be- 
tween him and Bacon, envying a rising luminary that threatened 
to eclipse them. This conduct is like that of some of the leading 

* In Hist, of Va., ii. 164. 



288 HISTORY OF TUB COLONY AND 

men in Virginia who, one hundred years later, compelled Patrick 
Henry to resign his post in the army. 

Sir William Berkley sent his evasive reply to the application 
for a commission, by some of his friends, and instructed them to 
persuade Bacon to disband his forces. He refused to comply 
with this request, and having in twenty days mustered five hun- 
dred men, marched to the falls of the James. Thereupon the 
governor, on the 29th day of May, 1676, issued a proclamation, 
declaring all such as should fail to return within a certain time, 
rebels. Bacon likewise issued a declaration, setting forth the 
public dangers and grievances, but taking no notice of the gover- 
nor's proclamation.* Upon this the men of property, fearful of 
a confiscation, deserted Bacon and returned home; but he pro- 
ceeded with fifty-seven men. Sir William Berkley, with a troop 
of horse from Middle Plantation, pursued Bacon as far as the 
falls, some forty miles, but not overtaking him, returned to James- 
town, where the assembly was soon to meet. During his absence 
the planters of the lower country rose in revolt, and declared 
against the frontier forts as a useless and intolerable burden ; and 
to restore quiet they were dismantled, and the assembly, the 
odious Long Parliament of Virginia, was at last dissolved, and 
writs for a new election issued. This revolt in the lower country, 
with which Bacon had no immediate connection, demonstrates how 
widely the leaven of rebellion, as it was styled, pervaded the body 
of the people, and how unfounded is the notion, that it was the 
result merely of personal pique and ambition in Bacon. Had he 
never set his foot on the soil of Virginia there can be little doubt 
but that an outbreak would have occurred at this time. There 
was no man in the colony with a brighter prospect before him 
than Bacon, and he could hardly have engaged in this popular 
movement without a sacrifice of selfish considerations, nor with 
out incurring imminent risk. The movement was revolutionary — 
a miniature prototype of the revolution of 1688 in England, and 
of 1776 in America. But Bacon, as before mentioned, with a 
small body of men proceeded into the wilderness, up the river, 
his provisions being nearly exhausted before he discovered the 

* Burk, ii. 247 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 289 

Indians. At length a tribe of friendly Mannakins were found 
entrenched within a palisaded fort on the further side of a branch 
of the James. Bacon endeavoring to procure provisions from 
them and offering compensation, they put him off with delusive 
promises till the third day, when the whites had eaten their last 
morsel. They now waded up to the shoulder across the branch 
to the fort, again soliciting provisions and tendering payment. 
In the evening one of Bacon's men was killed by a shot from that 
side of the branch which they had left, and this giving rise to a 
suspicion of collusion with Sir William Berkley and treachery, 
Bacon stormed the fort, burnt it and the cabins, blew up their 
magazine of arms and gunpowder, and with a loss of only three 
of his own party, put to death one hundred and fifty Indians. 
It is difficult to credit, impossible to justify, this massacre. The 
Virginians, a hundred years afterwards, suspected Governor Dun- 
more of colluding with Indians. Bacon with his followers re- 
turned to their homes, and he was shortly after elected one of the 
burgesses for the County of Henrico. Brewse or Bruce, his col- 
league and a captain of the insurgents, was not less odious to the 
governor. It was subsequently charged by the king's commis- 
sioners that the malecontent voters on this occasion illegally re- 
turned freemen, not being freeholders, for burgesses.* The 
charge was well founded. It is probable also that others were 
allowed to vote besides freeholders and housekeepers. Bacon, 
upon being elected, going down the James River with a party of 
his friends, was met by an armed vessel, ordered on board of her, 
and arrested by Major Howe, High Sheriff of James City, who 
conveyed him to the governor at that place, by whom he was ac- 
costed thus: "Mr. Bacon, you have forgot to be a gentleman." 
He replied, "No, may it please your honor." The governor said, 
"Then I'll take your parole;" which he accordingly did, and gave 
him his liberty; but a number of his companions, who had been 
arrested with him, were still kept in irons. 

On the 5th day of June, 1676, the members of the new assem- 
bly, whose names are not recorded, met in the chamber over the 
general court, and having chosen a speaker, the governor sent for 

* Breviarie and Conclusion, Burk, ii. 251. 

19 



290 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

theni down, and addressed them in a brief abrupt speech on the 
Indian disturbances, and in allusion to the chiefs who had been 
slain, exclaimed: "If they had killed my grandfather and my 
grandmother, my father and mother, and all my friends, yet 
if they had come to treat of peace, they ought to have gone in 
peace." After a short interval, he again rose and said: "If 
there be joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that 
repenteth, there is joy now, for we have a penitent sinner come 
before us. Call Mr. Bacon." Bacon appearing, was compelled 
upon one knee, at the bar of the house, to confess his offence, 
and beg pardon of God, the king, and governor, in the following 
words:* "I, Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., Esq., of Henrico County, in 
Virginia, do hereby most readily, freely, and most humbly ac- 
knowledge that I am, and have been guilty of divers late unlaw- 
ful, mutinous, and rebellious practices, contrary to my duty to 
his most sacred majesty's governor, and this country, by beating 
up of drums ; raising of men in arms ; marching with them into 
several parts of his most sacred majesty's colony, not only with- 
out order and commission, but contrary to the express orders and 
commands of the Right Honorable Sir William Berkley, Knt., 
his majesty's most worthy governor and captain-general of Vir- 
ginia. And I do further acknowledge that the said honorable 
governor hath been very favorable to me, by his several reiterated 
gracious offers of pardon, thereby to reclaim me from the perse- 
cution of those my unjust proceedings, (whose noble and generous 
mercy and clemency I can never sufficiently acknowledge,) and 
for the re-settlement of this whole country in peace and quiet- 
ness. And I do hereby, upon my knees, most humbly beg of 
Almighty God and of his majesty's said governor, that upon this 
my most hearty and unfeigned acknowledgment of my said mis- 
carriages and unwarrantable practices, he will please to grant me 
his gracious pardon and indemnity, humbly desiring also the 
honorable council of state, by whose goodness I am also much 
obliged, and the honorable burgesses of the present grand assem- 
bly to intercede, and mediate with his honor, to grant me such 
pardon. And I do hereby promise, upon the word and faith of a 
Christian and a gentleman, that upon such pardon granted me, 

* Hening, ii. 543. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 291 

as I shall ever acknowledge so great a favor, so I will always 
bear true faith and allegiance to his most sacred majesty, and 
demean myself dutifully, faithfully, and peaceably to the go- 
vernment, and the laws of this country, and am most ready and 
willing to enter into bond of two thousand pounds sterling, and 
for security thereof bind my whole estate in Virginia to the 
country for my good and quiet behavior for one whole year from 
this date, and do promise and oblige myself to continue my said 
duty and allegiance at all times afterwards. In testimony of 
this, my free and hearty recognition, I have hereunto subscribed 
my name, this 9th day of June, 1676. 

"NATH. BACON." 

The intercession of the council was in the following terms: 
"We, of his majesty's council of state of Virginia, do hereby 
desire, according to Mr. Bacon's request, the right honorable the 
governor, to grant the said Mr. Bacon his freedom. 



Phil. Ludwell, 
James Bray, 
Wm. Cole, 
Ra. Wormeley, 

Jo. Bridger. 
"Dated the 9th of June, 1676." 



Hen. Chicheley, 
Nathl. Bacon, 
Thos. Beale, 
Tho. Ballard, 



When Bacon had made his acknowledgment, the governor ex- 
claimed: "God forgive you, I forgive you;" repeating the words 
thrice. Colonel Cole, of the council, added, " and all that were 
with him." "Yea," echoed the governor, "and all that were 
with him." Sir William Berkley, starting up from his chair for 
the third time, exclaimed: "Mr. Bacon, if you will live civilly 
but till next quarter court, I'll promise to restore you again to 
your place there," (pointing with his hand to Mr. Bacon's seat,) 
he having, as has been already mentioned, been of the council 
before those troubles, and having been deposed by the governor's 
proclamation. But instead of being obliged to wait till the quar- 
ter court, Bacon was restored to his seat on that very day; and 
intelligence of it was hailed with joyful acclamations by the peo- 
ple in Jamestown. This took place on Saturday. Bacon was 



292 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

also promised a commission to go out against the Indians, to be 
delivered to him on the Monday following. But being delayed 
or disappointed, a few days after (the assembly being engaged in 
devising measures against the Indians) he escaped from James- 
town. He conceived the governor's pretended generosity to be 
only a lure to keep him out of his seat in the house of burgesses, 
and to quiet the people of the upper country, who were hastening 
down to Jamestown to avenge all wrongs done him or his friends. 
According to another account, he obtained leave of absence to 
visit his wife, "sick, as he pretended;" but from T. M.'s Account, 
and others, this version appears to be unfounded. 

There was in the council at this time one Colonel Nathaniel 
Bacon, a near relative of Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., who was not yet 
thirty years of age. The elder Bacon was a wealthy politic old 
man, childless, and intending to make his namesake and cousin 
his heir. It was by the pressing solicitations of this old gentle- 
man, as was believed, that young Bacon was reluctantly prevailed 
upon to repeat at the bar of the house the recantation written by 
the old gentleman. It was he also, as was supposed, who gave 
timely w r arning to the young Bacon to fly for his life. Three or 
four days after his first arrest, many country people, from the 
heads of the rivers, appeared in Jamestown; but finding him re- 
stored to his place in the council, and his companions at liberty, 
they returned home satisfied. But in a short time the governor, 
seeing all quiet, issued secret warrants to seize him again, intend- 
ing probably to raise the militia, and thus prevent a rescue. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



Bacon, with an armed Force, enters Jamestown — Extorts a Commission from the 

Governor — Proceedings of Assembly — Bacon marches against the Pamunkies 

Berkley summons Gloucester Militia — Bacon countermarches upon the Gover- 
nor — He escapes to Accomac — Bacoa encamps at Middle Plantation — Calls a 
Convention — Oath prescribed — Sarah Drummond — Giles Bland seizes an 
armed Vessel and sails for Accomac — His Capture — Berkley returns to 
Jamestown — Bacon exterminates the Indians. 

Within three or four days after Bacon's escape, news reached 
James City that he was some thirty miles above, on the James 
River, at the head of four hundred men. Sir William Berkley 
summoned the York train-bands to defend Jamestown, but only 
one hundred obeyed the summons, and they arrived too late, and 
one-half of them were favorable to Bacon. Expresses almost 
hourly brought tidings of his approach, and in less than four 
days he marched into Jamestown unresisted, at two o'clock p.m., 
and drew up his force, (now amounting to six hundred men,) 
horse and foot, in battle array on the green in front of the state- 
house, and within gunshot. In half an hour the drum beat, as 
was the custom, for the assembly to meet, and in less than thirty 
minutes Bacon advanced, with a file of fusileers on either hand, 
near to the corner of the state-house, where he was met by the 
governor and council. Sir William Berkley, dramatically baring 
his breast, cried out, "Here! shoot me — fore God, fair mark; 
shoot!" frequently repeating the words. Bacon replied, "No, 
may it please your honor, we will not hurt a hair of your head, 
nor of any other man's ; we are come for a commission to save 
our lives from the Indians, which you have so often promised, 
and now we will have it before we go." Bacon was walking to 
and fro between the files of his men, holding his left arm akimbo, 
and gesticulating violently with his right, he and the governor 
•both like men distracted. In a few moments Sir William with- 
drew to his private apartment at the other end of the state-house, 

(293) 



294 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

the council accompanying hiin. Bacon followed, frequently hur- 
rying his hand from his sword-hilt to his hat; and after him came 
a detachment of fusileers, who, with their guns cocked and pre- 
sented at a window of the assembly chamber, filled with faces, 
repeating in menacing tone, "We will have it, we will have it," 
for half a minute, when a well-known burgess, waving his hand- 
kerchief out at the window, exclaimed, three or four times, "You 
shall have it, you shall have it;" when, uncocking their guns, 
they rested them on the ground, and stood still, till Bacon return- 
ing, they rejoined the main body. It was said that Bacon had 
beforehand directed his men to fire in case he should draw his 
sword. In about an hour after Bacon re-entered the assembly 
chamber, and demanded a commission, authorizing him to march 
out against the Indians. Godwyn, the speaker,* who was himself 
a Baconian, as were a majority of the house, remaining silent in 
the chair, Brewse, (or Bruce, )f the colleague of Bacon, alone 
found courage to answer: "'Twas not in our province, or power, 
nor of any other, save the king's vicegerent, our governor." 
Bacon, nevertheless, still warmly urged his demand, and harangued 
the assembly for nearly half an hour on the Indian disturbances, 
the condition of the public revenues, the exorbitant taxes, abuses 
and corruptions of the administration, and all the grievances of 
their miserable country. Having concluded, and finding "no 
other answer, he went away dissatisfied." 

On the following day the governor directed the house to take 
measures to defend the country against the Indians, and advised 
them to beware of two rogues among them, meaning Lawrence 
and Drummond, who both lived at Jamestown. But some of the 
burgesses, in order to effect a redress of some of the grievances 
that the country labored under, made motions for inspecting the 
public revenues, the collector's accounts, etc., when they received 
pressing messages from the governor to meddle with nothing else 
till the Indian business was disposed of. The debate on this 
matter rose high, but the governor's orders were finally ac- 
quiesced in. 



* Hening, ii. 606. 

f Breviarie and Conclusion, in Burk, ii. 250. T. M. calls him Blayton. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 295 

While the committee on Indian affairs was sitting, the Queen 
of Pamunkey, a descendant of Opechancanough, was introduced 
into their room. Accompanied by an interpreter and her son, a 
youth of twenty years, she entered with graceful dignity. Around 
her head she wore a plait of black and white wampum-peake, a 
drilled purple bead of shell, three inches wide, after the manner 
of a crown. There is preserved at Fredericksburg a silver front- 
let, purchased from some Indians, with a coat of arms, and in- 
scribed "The Queen of Pamunkey," "Charles the Second, King 
of England, Scotland, France, Ireland, and Virginia," and "Honi 
soit qui mal y pense." She Avas clothed in a mantle of dressed 
buckskin, with the fur outward, and bordered with a deep fringe 
from head to foot. Being seated, the chairman asked her "How 
many men she would lend the English for guides and allies?" 
She referred him to her son, Avho understood English, being the 
reputed son of an English colonel. But he declining to answer, 
she burst forth in an impassioned speech of a quarter of an hour's 
length, often repeating the words, " Totopotomoi dead," referring to 
her husband, who, as has been seen, had fallen while fighting under 
Colonel Hill, the elder. The chairman, untouched by this appeal, 
roughly repeated the inquiry, how many men she would contri- 
bute. Averting her head with a disdainful look she sate silent, 
till the question being pressed a third time, she replied in a low 
tone, "Six." When still further importuned she said "Twelve," 
although she had then one hundred and fifty warriors in her 
town. She retired silent and displeased. 

The assembly went on to provide for the Indian war, and made 
Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., general and commander-in-chief, which was 
ratified by the governor and council. An act was also passed 
indemnifying Bacon and his party for their violent acts ; and a 
highly applausive letter was prepared, justifying Bacon's designs 
and proceedings, addressed to the king and subscribed by the 
governor, council, and assembly. Sir William Berkley at the 
same time communicated to the house a letter addressed to his 
majesty, saying: "I have above thirty years governed the most 
flourishing country the sun ever shone over, but am now encom- 
passed with rebellion like waters, in every respect like that of 
Massaniello, except their leader." Massaniello, or Thomas Anello, 



296 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

a fisherman of Naples, born 1623, exasperated by the oppressive 
taxes imposed by Austria upon bis countrymen, at the head of 
two thousand young men, armed with canes, overthrew the 
viceroy, seized upon the supreme power, and after holding it for 
some years, fell by the hands of assassins in 1647. Some of the 
burgesses also wrote to the king, setting forth the circumstances 
of the outbreak. The amnesty extended from the 1st day of 
March to the 25th day of June, 1676, and excepted only offences 
against the law concerning the Indian trade.* The assembly did 
not restrict itself to measures favorable to Bacon. According to 
the letter of the law, at least, he had been guilty of rebellion in 
assuming a military command and marching against the savages 
without a commission, and he had so acknowledged. Yet he was 
not more guilty than the bulk of the people of the colony, and 
probably not more so than a majority of the assembly itself; and 
the popular movement seemed justified by an urgent necessity of 
self-defence, and an intolerable accumulation of public grievances. 
On the other hand, Sir William Berkley had violated his solemn 
engagement to grant the commission. Besides, it did not escape 
the notice of the assembly that the term of ten years for which, 
it was believed, he had been appointed, had expired ; and this cir- 
cumstance, although it might not be held absolutely to terminate 
his authority, served at the least to attenuate it. The assembly 
adopted measures with a view at once to vindicate the supremacy 
of the law; to heal the wounded pride of the aged governor; 
to protect the country; to screen Bacon and his confederates 
from punishment, and to reform the abuses of the govern- 
ment. 

It is remarkable that the resolutions, instructing the Virginia 
delegates in Congress to declare the colonies free and inde- 
pendent, were passed in June, 1776, and that the assembly, under 
Bacon's influence, met in June, 1676. The first act of this ses- 
sion declared war against the hostile Indians, ordering a levy of 
one thousand men, and authorizing General Bacon to receive 
volunteers; and if their number should prove sufficient, to dis- 
pense with the regular force ; Indians taken in w T ar to be made 

* Hening, ii. 363. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 297 

slaves ; the forces divided into southern and northern, and such 
officers to be appointed to command these divisions as the gover- 
nor should commission. An act was then passed for the sup- 
pressing of tumults, the preamble reciting that there had of late 
"been many unlawful tumults, routs, and riots, in divers parts of 
this country, and that certain ill-disposed and disaffected people 
of late gathered, and may again gather themselves together, by 
beat of drum and otherwise, in a most apparent rebellious man- 
ner, without any authority or legal commission, which may prove 
of very dangerous consequences," etc. The act for regulating of 
officers and offices, shows how many abuses and how much rapa- 
city had crept into the administration. By this act it was de- 
clared that no person, not being a native or minister, could hold 
any office until he had resided in the colony for three years. 
The democratic spirit of this assembly displayed itself in a law 
"enabling freemen to vote for burgesses;" and another making 
the church vestries eligible by the freemen of the parish, once in 
three years. Representatives were to be chosen by the people in 
each parish to vote with the justices in laying the county levy, 
and in making by-laws. The county courts were authorized to 
appoint their own collectors; and members of the council were 
prohibited from voting with the justices. An act for suppressing 
of ordinaries, or country taverns, suppressed all except three, 
one at James City, and one at each side of York River, at the 
great ferries; and these were prohibited from retailing any 
liquors, except beer and cider. Lieutenant-Colonel Hill, and 
Lieutenant John Stith, both of the parish of Westover, and 
County of Charles City, were disabled from holding office in that 
county, for having fomented misunderstandings between the honor- 
able governor and his majesty's good and loyal subjects, the inhabit- 
ants of the Counties of Charles City and Henrico, and having 
been instrumental in levying unjust and exorbitant taxes.* In 
evidence of the excitement and suspicion then prevailing, it was 
observed that some of the burgesses wore distinctive badges; a 
hundred years afterwards the opposite parties walked on opposite 
sides of the street. 

* Hening, ii. 341, 365. 



298 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

In a few days the assembly was dissolved by the governor, who, 
seeing how great Bacon's influence was, apprehended only further 
mischief from their proceedings. A number of the burgesses, 
intending to depart on the morrow, having met in the evening to 
take leave of each other, General Bacon, as he now came to bo 
styled, entered the room with a handful of papers, and, looking 
around, inquired, "Which of these gentlemen shall I interest to 
write a few words for me?" All present looking aside, being un- 
willing to act, Lawrence, Bacon's friend, pointing to one of the 
company, (the author of T. M.'s Account,) said: "That gentle- 
man writes very well," and he, undertaking to excuse himself, 
Bacon, bowing low, said: "Pray, sir, do me the honor to write a 
line for me;" and he now consenting, was detained during the 
whole night, filling up commissions obtained from the governor, 
and signed by him. These commissions Bacon filled almost alto- 
gether with the names of the militia officers of the country, the 
first men in the colony in fortune, rank, and influence. 

His vigorous measures at once restored confidence to the 
planters, and they resumed their occupations. Bacon, at the 
head of a thousand men, marched against the Pamunkies, killing 
many and destroying their towns. Meanwhile the people of 
Gloucester, the most populous and loyal county, having been dis- 
armed by Bacon, petitioned the governor for protection against 
the savages. Reanimated by this petition, he again proclaimed 
Bacon a rebel and a traitor, and hastened over to Gloucester. 
Summoning the train-bands of that county and Middlesex, to the 
number of twelve hundred men, he proposed to them to pursue 
and put down the rebel Bacon — when the whole assembly unani- 
mously shouted, "Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!" and withdrew from 
the field, still repeating the name of that popular leader, the Patrick 
Henry of his day, and leaving the aged cavalier governor and his 
attendants to themselves. The issue was now fairly joined be- 
tween the people and the governor. Francis Morryson, after- 
wards one of the king's commissioners, in a letter dated at Lon- 
don, November 28th, 1677, and addressed to Secretary Luclwell, 
says: "I fear when that part of the narrative comes to be read 
that mentions the Gloucester petitions, your brother may be pre- 
judiced, for there are two or three that will be summoned, will 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 299 

lay the contrivance at your brother's door and Beverley's, but 
more upon your brother, who, they say, was the drawer of it. 
For at the first sight, all the lords judged that that was the un- 
happy accident that made the Indian war recoil into a civil war; 
for the reason you alleged that bond and oath were proffered the 
governor, intended not against Bacon but the Indians, confirmed 
the people that Bacon's commission was good, it never being be- 
fore disavowed by proclamation, but by letters writ to his majesty 
in commendation of Bacon's acting, copies thereof dispersed 
among the people."* According to another authority! the people 
of Gloucester refused to march against Bacon, but pledged them- 
selves to defend the governor against him, if he should turn 
against Sir William Berkley and his government, which they 
hoped would never happen. From the result of this affair of the 
Gloucester petitions, we may conclude that either they contained 
nothing unfavorable to Bacon, or if they did, that they were 
gotten up by designing leaders without the consent of the people. 
It is certain that now, when Bacon's violent proceedings at James- 
town were known, the great body of the people espoused his 
cause and approved his designs. 

Bacon, before he reached the head of York River, hearing 
from Lawrence and Drummond of the governor's movements, ex- 
claimed, that "it vexed him to the heart, that while he was 
hunting wolves which were destroying innocent lambs, the go- 
vernor and those with him should pursue him in the rear with 
full cry ; and that he was like corn between two mill-stones, which 
would grind him to powder if he didn't look to it." He marched 
immediately back against the governor, who finding himself aban- 
doned, again, on the twenty-ninth of July, proclaimed Bacon a 
rebel, and made his escape, with a few friends, down York River 
and across the Chesapeake Bay to Accomac, on the Eastern 
Shore. A vindication of Sir William, afterwards published, says : 
"Nor is it to be wondered at that he did not immediately put 
forth proclamations to undeceive the people, because he had then 
no means of securing himself, nor forces to have maintained such 
a proclamation by ; but he took the first opportunity he could of 

* Burk, ii. 2G8. f Narrative of Indian and Civil Wars, 14. 



300 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

doing all this, when Gloucester County, having been plundered 
by Bacon before his going out against the Indians, made an 
address."* 

Bacon, upon reaching Gloucester, sent out parties of horse to 
patrol the country, and made prisoners such as were suspected of 
disaffection to his Indian expedition; releasing on parole those 
who took an oath to return home and remain quiet. This oath 
was strict in form but practically little regarded. 

About this time there was detected in Bacon's camp a spy, who 
pretended to be a deserter from the opposite party, and who had 
repeatedly changed sides. Upon his being sentenced to death 
by a court-martial, Bacon declared that "if any one in the army 
would speak a word to save him, he should not suffer;" but no 
one interceding, he was put to death. Bacon's clemency won the 
admiration of the army, and this was the only instance of capital 
punishment under his orders, nor did he plunder any private 
house. 

Having now acquired the command of a province of forty-five 
thousand inhabitants, and from which the crown derived a re- 
venue of a hundred thousand pounds, he sate down with his army 
at Middle Plantation, and sent out an invitation, subscribed by 
himself and four of the council, to all the principal gentlemen of 
the country, to meet him in a convention at his headquarters, to con- 
sult how the Indians were to be proceeded against, and himself 
and the army protected against the designs of Sir William Berk- 
ley.f Bacon also put forth a reply to the governor's proclama- 
tions, demanding whether those who are entirely devoted to the 
king and country, can deserve the name of rebels and traitors? 
In vindication of their loyalty, he points to the peaceable conduct 
of his soldiers, and calls upon the whole country to witness against 
him if they can. He reproaches some of the men in power with 
the meanness of their capacity ; others with their ill-gotten wealth ; 
he inquires what arts, sciences, schools of learning or manufac- 
tures they had promoted; he justifies his warring against the In- 



* Burk, ii. 261. 

+ T. M. says: "Bacon calls a convention at Middle Plantation, fifteen miles 
from Jamestown." 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 301 

dians, and inveighs against Sir William Berkley for siding with 
them; insisting that he had no right to interfere with the fur- 
trade, since it was a monopoly of the crown, and asserting that 
the governor's factors on the frontier trafficked in the blood of 
their countrymen, by supplying the savages with arms and am- 
munition, contrary to law. He concludes by appealing to the 
king and parliament. 

In compliance with Bacon's invitation, a great convention, in- 
cluding many of the principal men of the colony, assembled at 
his quarters in August, 1676, at Middle Plantation. In prepar- 
ing an oath to be administered to the people, the three articles 
proposed were read by James Minge, clerk of the house of bur- 
gesses: First, that they should aid General Bacon in the Indian 
war; second, that they would oppose Sir William Berkley's endea- 
vors to hinder the same ; third, that they would oppose any power 
sent out from England, till terms were agreed to, granting that 
the country's complaint should be heard against Sir William be- 
fore the king and parliament. A "bloody debate" ensued, espe- 
cially on this last article, and it lasted from noon till midnight, 
Bacon and some of the principal men supporting it, and he pro- 
tested that unless it should be adopted he would surrender his 
commission to the assembly. Some report* that Bacon con- 
tended in this debate single-handed against "a great many 
counted the wisest in the country." With what interest would 
we read a report of his speech ! But his eloquence, like Henry's, 
lives only in tradition. In this critical conjuncture, when the 
scales of self-defence and of loyalty hung in equipoise, "the gun- 
ner of York Fort brought sudden news of fresh murders perpe- 
trated by the Indians in Gloucester County, near Carter's Creek, 
adding that a great number of poor people had taken refuge in 
the fort. Bacon demanded, "How it could be possible that the 
chief fort in Virginia should be threatened by the Indians?" 
The gunner replied, " That the governor on the day before had 
conveyed all arms and ammunition out of the fort into his own 
vessel." This probably took place on the twenty-ninth of July. 
Dunmore removed the gunpowder a century afterwards. The dis- 

* Narrative of Indian and Civil Wars, 18. 



302 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

closure produced a deep sensation, and the convention now became 
reconciled to the oath. Among the subscribers on this occasion 
were Colonel Ballard, Colonel Beale, Colonel Swan, and 'Squire 
Bray, of the council; Colonels Jordan, Smith, of Purton, Scar- 
burgh, Miller, Lawrence, and William Drummond. He had been 
recently governor of North Carolina. It has been supposed 
that he was a Presbyterian. He was a Scotchman; but the 
command of a colony would hardly at that time have been in- 
trusted to a Presbyterian.* Writs were issued in his majesty's 
name for an assembly to meet on the fourth day of September; 
they were signed by the four members of the council. The oath 
was administered to the people of every rank, except servants, 
and it was as follows: "Whereas, the country hath raised an 
army against our common enemy, the Indians, and the same, 
under the command of General Bacon, being upon the point to 
march forth against the said common enemy, hath been diverted 
and necessitated to move to the suppressing of forces by evil-dis- 
posed persons raised against the said General Bacon purposely to 
foment and stir up civil war among us, to the ruin of this, his 
majesty's country. And whereas, it is notoriously manifest that 
Sir William Berkley, Knight, governor of the country, assisted 
counselled, and abetted by those evil-disposed persons aforesaid, 
hath not only commanded, fomented, and stirred up the people 
to the said civil war, but failing therein hath withdrawn himself, 
to the great astonishment of the people and the unsettlement of 
the country. And whereas, the said army raised by the country 
for the causes aforesaid remain full of dissatisfaction in the mid- 
dle of the country, expecting attempts from the said governor 
and the evil counsellors aforesaid. And since no proper means 
have been found out for the settlement of the distractions, and 
preventing the horrid outrages and murders daily committed in 
many places of the country by the barbarous enemy; it hath 
been thought fit by the said general to call unto him all such 
sober and discreet gentlemen as the present circumstances of the 
country will admit, to the Middle Plantation, to consult and ad- 
vise of re-establishing the peace of the country. So we, the said 

* Bancroft, ii. 136 ; Anderson's Hist, of Col. Church, ii. 519, in note. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 303 

gentlemen, being, this 3d of August, 1676, accordingly met, 
do advise, resolve, declare, and conclude, and for ourselves do 
swear in manner following : First, That we will at all times join 
with the said General Bacon, and his army, against the common 
enemy in all points whatsoever. Secondly, That, whereas, certain 
persons have lately contrived, and designed the raising forces 
against the said general and the army under his command, 
thereby to beget a civil war, we will endeavor the discovery 
and apprehending all and every of those evil-disposed persons, 
and them secure until further order from the general. Thirdly, 
And whereas, it is credibly reported, that the governor hath in- 
formed the king's majesty that the said general and the people 
of the country in arms under his command, their aiders and 
abettors, are rebellious and removed from their allegiance, and 
that upon such like information, he, the said governor, hath ad- 
vised and petitioned the king to send forces to reduce them : we 
do further declare, and believe in our consciences, that it consists 
with the welfare of this country, and with our allegiance to his 
most sacred majesty, that we, the inhabitants of Virginia, to the 
utmost of our power, do oppose and suppress all forces what- 
soever of that nature, until such time as the king be fully informed 
of the state of the case by such person or persons as shall be 
sent from the said Nathaniel Bacon, in the behalf of the people, 
and the determination thereof be remitted hither. And we do 
swear that we will him, the said general, and the army under his 
command, aid and assist accordingly."* 

Drmnmond advised that Sir William Berkley should be de- 
posed, and Sir Henry Chicheley substituted in his place; his 
counsel not being approved of, he said: "Do not make so strange 
of it, for I can show from ancient records, that such things have 
been done in Virginia," referring probably to the case of Sir 
John Harvey But it was agreed that the governor's withdrawal 
should be taken for an abdication. Sarah Drummond, a patriot 
heroine, was no less enthusiastic in Bacon's favor than her hus- 
band. She exclaimed, " The child that is unborn shall have cause 
to rejoice for the good that will come by the rising of the coun- 

* Beverley, B. i. 74. 



304 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

try." Ralph Weldinge said: "We must expect a greater power 
from England that would certainly be our ruin." But Sarah 
Drummond remembered that England was divided into two hos- 
tile factions between the Duke of York and the Duke of Mon- 
mouth. Picking up from the ground a small stick and breaking 
it, she added: "I fear the power of England no more than a 
broken straw." Looking for relief from the odious navigation act, 
she declared: "Now we can build ships, and, like New England, 
trade to any part of the world;" for New England evaded that 
act, which her people considered an invasion of their rights, they 
not being represented in parliament. 

Bacon also issued proclamations, commanding all men in the 
land, in case of the arrival of the forces expected from England, 
to join his standard and to retire into the wilderness, and resist 
the troops, until they should agree to treat of an accommodation 
of the dispute. 

There was a gentleman in Virginia, Giles Bland, only son of 
John Bland, an eminent London merchant, who was personally 
known to the king, and had a considerable interest at court. He 
was, as has been seen, also a generous friend of Virginia. His 
brother, Theodorick Bland, sometime a merchant at Luars, in 
Spain, came over to Virginia in 1654, where, settling at West- 
over, upon James River, in Charles City County, he died, in 
April, 1671, aged forty-five years, and was buried in the chancel 
of the church, which he built, and gave, together with ten acres 
of land, a court-house and prison for the county and parish. He 
lies buried in the Westover churchyard between two of his friends, 
the church having long since fallen down. He was of the king's 
council and speaker of the house of burgesses, and was, in 
fortune and understanding, inferior to no man of his time in the 
country. He married Ann, daughter of Richard Bennet, some- 
time governor of the colony.* When John Bland sent out his 
son Giles Bland to Virginia to take possession of the estate of 
his uncle Theodorick, he got him appointed collector-general of 
the customs. The governors had hitherto held this office, and it 
was in 1676 that a collector of the revenue was first sent over 

* Bland Papers, i. 148. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 305 

from England under parliamentary sanction, and it is therefore pro- 
bable that the appointment of Bland diminished the perquisites of 
Governor Berkley. Giles Bland, in his capacity of collector, had a 
right to board any vessel whenever he might think it proper. He 
was a man of talents, education, courage, and haughty bearing, 
and having before quarrelled with the governor, now sided warmly 
with Bacon. There happened to be lying in York River a vessel 
of sixteen guns, commanded by a Captain Laramore, and Bland 
went on board of her with a party of armed men, under pretence 
of searching for contraband goods, and seizing the captain, con- 
fined him in the cabin. Laramore, discovering Bland's designs, 
resolved to deceive him in his turn, and entered into his measures 
with such apparent sincerity that he was restored to the command of 
his vessel. With her, another vessel of four guns, under Captain 
Carver, and a sloop, Bland, now appointed Bacon's lieutenant- 
general, sailed with two hundred and fifty men for Accomac, and 
after capturing another vessel, appeared off Accomac with four 
sail. 

This peninsula, separated from the main land of Virginia by 
the wide Chesapeake Bay, was then hardly accessible by land, 
owing to the great distance and the danger of Indians. The 
position was therefore geographically advantageous for the fugi- 
tive governor; but as yet few of the inhabitants had rallied to 
his standard. They indeed shared in the general disaffection, 
and availed themselves of this occasion to lay their grievances 
before Sir "William Berkley, who found himself unable to redress 
his own. Some of the inhabitants of the Eastern Shore at this 
time were engaged in committing depredations on the Estates of the 
planters on the other side of the bay, just as the adherents of 
Lord Dunmore acted a century afterwards. Upon the appear- 
ance of Bland and his little squadron, Sir William Berkley, having 
not a single vessel to defend him, was overwhelmed with despair ; 
but at this juncture he received a note from Laramore, offering, 
if he would send him some assistance, to deliver Bland, with all 
his men, prisoners into his hands. The governor, having no high 
opinion of Laramore, suspected that his note might be only a 
bait to entrap him; but upon advising with his friend Colonel 
Philip Ludwell, he knowing Laramore and having a good opinion 

20 



306 HISTORY OF TIIE COLONY AND 

of him, counselled the governor to accept the offer as the best 
alternative now left him, and gallantly undertook to engage in 
the enterprise at the hazard of his life. Sir William consenting, 
Ludwell, with twenty-six well-armed men, appeared at the ap- 
pointed time alongside of Laramore's vessel. Laramore was pre- 
pared to receive the loyalists, and Ludwell boarded her without 
the loss of a man, and soon after captured the other vessels. 
According to T. M.'s Account, Captain Carver was at this time, 
upon Sir William's invitation, holding an interview with him on 
shore. Bland, Carver, and the other chiefs were sent to the 
governor, and the rest of the prisoners secured on board of the 
vessels. Bland's expedition appears to have been very badly ma- 
naged, and the drunkenness of his men probably rendered his 
party so easy a prey.* The greater part of the prisoners screened 
themselves from punishment by entering into the governor's ser- 
vice. When Laramore waited on the governor, he clasped him in 
his arms, called him his deliverer, and gave him a large share of 
his favor. In a few days the brave old Carver was hanged on 
the Accomac shore. Sir William Berkley afterwards described 
him as " a valiant man and stout seaman, miraculously delivered 
into my hand." Sir Henry Chicheley, the chief of the council, 
who, with several other gentlemen, was a prisoner in Bacon's 
hands, afterwards exclaimed against this act of the governor as 
most rash and cruel, and he expected, at the time, to be executed 
in the same manner by way of retaliation. Bland was put in 
irons and badly treated, as it was reported. 

Captain Gardner, sailing from the James River, went to the 
governor's relief with his own vessel, the Adam and Eve, and ten 
or twelve sloops, which he had collected upon hearing of Bland's 
expedition. Sir William Berkley, by this unexpected turn of 
affairs, raised from the abyss of despair to the pinnacle of hope, 
resolved to push his success still further. With Laramore's ves- 
sel and Gardner's, and sixteen or seventeen sloops, and a motley 
band of six hundred, or, according to another account, one thou- 
sand men in arms, "rogues and royalists," the governor returned 
in triumph to Jamestown, September 7th, 1676, where, falling 

* Bacon's Proceedings, 20; Force's Hist. Tracts, i. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 307 

on his knees, he returned thanks to God, and again proclaimed 
Bacon and his adherents rebels and traitors. There "were now in 
Jamestown nine hundred Baconites, as they had come to be styled, 
under command of Colonel Hansford, commissioned by Bacon. 
Berkley sent in a summons for surrender of the town, with offer 
of pardon to all except Drummond and Lawrence. Upon this, 
all of them retired to their homes except Hansford, Lawrence, 
Drummond, and a few others, who made for the head of York 
River, in quest of Bacon, who had returned to that quarter. 

During these events Bacon was executing his designs against 
the Indians. As soon as he had dispatched Bland to Accomac, 
he crossed the James River at his own house, at Curies, and sur- 
prising the Appomattox Indians, who lived on both sides of the 
river of that name, a little below the falls, (now Petersburg,) he 
burnt their town, killed a large number of the tribe, and dispersed 
the rest.* Burkf places this battle or massacre on Bloody Run, 
a small stream emptying into the James at Richmond, but he re- 
fers to no authority, and probably had none better than a loose 
tradition. The Appomattox Indians, it appears, occupied both 
sides of the river in question, and it is altogether improbable that 
Indians still inhabited the north bank of the James River near 
Curies. Besides, if they had still inhabited that side, it would 
have been unnecessary to cross the James before commencing the 
attack. Curies was a proper point for crossing the James with a 
view of attacking the Indians on the Appomattox. 

From the falls of the Appomattox, Bacon traversed the country 
to the southward, destroying many towns on the banks of the 
Nottoway, the Meherrin, and the Roanoke. His name had be- 
come so formidable, that the natives fled everywhere before him, 
and having nothing to subsist upon, save the spontaneous produc- 
tions of the country, several tribes perished, and they who sur- 
vived were so reduced as to be never afterwards able to make 
any firm stand against the Long-knives, and gradually became 
tributary to them. 

* History of Bacon's Rebellion, in Va. Gazette for 1769. 
f Burk, ii. 176. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



Bacon Marches back upon Jamestown — Singular Stratagem — Berkley's Second 
Flight — Jamestown Burnt — Bacon proceeds to Gloucester to oppose Brent — 
Bacon dies — Circumstances of his Death and Burial — His Father an Author — 
Marriage and Fortune of Nathaniel Bacon, Jr. — His Widow. 

Bacon, having exhausted his provisions, had dismissed the 
greater part of his forces before Lawrence, Druminond, Hans- 
ford, and the other fugitives from Jamestown joined him. Upon 
receiving intelligence of the governor's return, Bacon, collecting 
a force variously estimated at one hundred and fifty, three hun- 
dred, and eight hundred, harangued them on the situation of 
affairs, and marched back upon Jamestown, leading his Indian 
captives in triumph before him. The contending parties came 
now to be distinguished by the names of Rebels and Royalists. 
Finding the town defended by a palisade ten paces in width, run- 
ning across the neck of the peninsula, he rode along the work, 
and reconnoitred the governor's position. Then, dismounting 
from his horse, he animated his fatigued men to advance at once, 
and, leading them close to the palisade, sounded a defiance with 
the trumpet, and fired upon the garrison. The governor re- 
mained quiet, hoping that want of provisions would soon force 
Bacon to retire; but he supplied his troops from Sir William 
Berkley's seat, at Greenspring, three miles distant. He after- 
wards complained that "his dwelling-house at Greenspring was 
almost ruined; his household goods, and others of great value, 
totally plundered; that he had not a bed to lie on; two great 
beasts, three hundred sheep, seventy horses and mares, all his 
corn and provisions, taken away." 

Bacon adopted a singular stratagem, and one hardly compati- 
ble with the rules of chivalry. Sending out small parties of 
horse, he captured the wives of several of the principal loyalists 
(308) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 309 

then with the governor, and among them the lady of Colonel 
Bacon, Sr., Madame Bray, Madame Page, and Madame Ballard. 
Upon their being brought into the camp, Bacon sends one of 
them into Jamestown to carry word to their husbands that his 
purpose was to place their wives in front of his men in case of a 
sally.* Colonel Ludwellf reproaches the rebels with "ravishing 
of women from their homes, and hurrying them about the country 
in their rude camps, often threatening them with death." But, 
according to another and more impartial authority,! Bacon made 
use of the ladies only to complete his battery, and removed them 
out of harm's way at the time of the sortie. He raised by 
moonlight a circumvallation of trees, earth, and brush-wood, 
around the governor's outworks. At daybreak next morning 
the governor's troops, being fired upon, made a sortie; but they 
were driven back, leaving their drum and their dead behind them. 
Upon the top of the work which he had thrown up, and where 
alone a sally could be made, Bacon exhibited the captive ladies 
to the views of their husbands and friends in the town, and kept 
them there until he completed his works. The peninsula of 
Jamestown is formed by the James River on the south, and a 
deep creek on the north encircling it within ten paces of the river. 
This island, for it is so styled, is about two miles long, east and 
west, and one mile broad. It is low, consisting mainly of 
marshes and swamps, and in consequence very unhealthy. 
There are no springs, and the water of the wells is brackish. 
Jamestown stood along the river bank about three-quarters of a 
mile, containing a church, and some sixteen or eighteen well- 
built brick houses. The population of this diminutive metropolis 
consisted of about a dozen families, (for all of the houses were 
not inhabited,) "getting their living by keeping of ordinaries at 
extraordinary rates." 

Bacon, after completing his works, in which he was much as- 
sisted by the conspicuous white aprons of the ladies, now mounted 
a small battery of two or three cannon, according to some com- 
manding the shipping, but not the town, according to others 



* Mrs. Cotton's Letter. f Letter in Chalmers' Annals, 349. 

J Narrative of Indian and Civil Wars. 



810 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

commanding both. Sir William Berkley had three great guns 
planted at the distance of about one hundred and fifty paces. 
But such was the cowardice of his motley crowd of followers, the 
bulk of them mere spoilsmen, "rogues and royalists," intent only 
on the plunder of forfeited estates promised them by "his honor," 
that although superior to Bacon's force in time, place, and num- 
bers, yet out of six hundred of them, only twenty gentlemen 
were found willing to stand by him. So great was their fear, 
that in two or three days after the sortie they embarked in the 
night with all the town people and their goods, and leaving the 
guns spiked, weighing anchor secretly, and dropping silently 
down the river; retreating from a force inferior in number, and 
which, during a rainy week of the sickliest season, had been ex- 
posed, lying in open trenches, to far more hardship and privation 
than themselves. At the dawn of the following day, Bacon en- 
tered, where he found empty houses, a few horses, two or three 
cellars of wine, a small quantity of Indian-corn, "and many 
tanned hides." It being determined that it should be burned, so 
that the "rogues should harbor there no more," Lawrence and 
Drummond, who owned two of the best houses, set fire to them 
in the evening with their own hands, and the soldiers, following 
their example, laid in ashes Jamestown, including the church, the 
first brick one erected in the colony. Sir William Berkley and 
his people beheld the flames of the conflagration from the vessels 
riding at anchor, about twenty miles below. 

Bacon now marched to York River, and crossed at Tindall's 
(Gloucester) Point, in order to encounter Colonel Brent, who was 
marching against him from the Potomac, with twelve hundred 
men. But the greater part of his men, hearing of Bacon's suc- 
cess, deserting their colors declared for him, "resolving with the 
Persians, to go and worship the rising sun."* Bacon, making 
his headquarters at Colonel Warmer's, called a convention in 
Gloucester, and administered the oath to the people of that 
county, and began to plan another expedition against the Indians, 
or, as some report, against Accomac, when he fell sick of a dys- 
entery brought on by exposure. Retiring to the house of a Dr. 

* Mrs. Cotton's Letter. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 311 

Pate, and, lingering for some weeks, lie died. Some of the 
loyalists afterwards reported that he died of a loathsome disease, 
and by a visitation of God; which is disproven by T. M.'s Ac- 
count, by that published in the Virginia Gazette, and by the Re- 
port of the King's Commissioners. Some of Bacon's friends 
suspected that he was taken off by poison ; but of this there is no 
proof. In his last hours he requested the assistance of a minis- 
ter named Wading, whom he had arrested not long before for his 
opposition to the taking of the oath in Gloucester, telling him 
that "it was his place to preach in the church, and not in the 
camp." 

The place of Bacon's interment has never been discovered, it 
having been concealed by his friends, lest his remains should be 
insulted by the vindictive Berkley, in whom old age appears not 
to have mitigated the fury of the passions. According to one 
tradition, in order to screen Bacon's body from indignity, stones 
were laid on his coffin by his friend Lawrence, as was supposed ; 
according to others, it was conjectured that his body had been 
buried in the bosom of the majestic York where the winds and 
the waves might still repeat his requiem : — 

"While none shall dare his obsequies to sing 
In deserved measures ; until time shall bring 
Truth crowned with freedom, and from danger free, 
To sound his praises to posterity."* 

Lord Chatham, in his letters addressed to his nephew, the Earl 
of Camelford, advises him to read "Nathaniel Bacon's Historical 
and Political Observations, which is, without exception, the best 
and most instructive book we have on matters of that kind." 
This book, though at present little known, formerly enjoyed a 
high reputation. It is written with a very evident bias to the 
principles of the parliamentary party, to which Bacon adhered. 
It was published in 1647, again in 1651, secretly reprinted in 
1672, and again in 1682, for which edition the publisher was 
indicted and outlawed. The author was probably related to the 

* Extract from verses on his death, attributed to a servant, or attendant, who 
was with him in his last moments, and entitled "Bacon's Epitaph made by his 
Man." [Force's Hist. Tracts, i.) 



312 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

great Lord Bacon.* Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., came over to Virgi- 
nia about the year 1672, when the third edition of that work was 
secretly reprinted in England. In the quarto edition the author, 
Nathaniel Bacon, is said to have been of Gray's Inn. It was 
published during the Protectorate. He appears probably to have 
been, in Oliver Cromwell's time, recorder of the borough of Ips- 
wich, and to have lived at Freston, near Saxmundham, in Suffolk. 
His son, Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., styled the Rebel, married, against 
the consent of his father, who violently exhibited his disapproba- 
tion, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Sir Edward Duke, and sister 
to Sir John Duke, of Benhill-lodge, near Saxmundham. Ray, 
who set out upon his travels into foreign parts in 1668, says he 
was accompanied by Mr. Willoughby, Sir Philip Skippon, and 
Mr. Nathaniel Bacon, "a hopeful young gentleman. "f He 
owned lands in England of the yearly value of one hundred and 
fifty pounds ; and after his marriage, being straitened for money, 
he applied to Sir Robert Jason for assistance, conveyed the lands 
to him for twelve hundred pounds sterling,! and removed with 
his wife to Virginia. Dying, he left Elizabeth a widow, and 
children. She afterwards married in Virginia Thomas Jervis, a 
merchant, who lived in Elizabeth City County, on the west side 
of Hampton River, § and upon his death she became his execu- 
trix, and in 1684 claimed her jointure out of the lands sold to 
Jason, under a settlement thereof made by Bacon on his mar- 
riage, in consideration of her portion. || Nathaniel Bacon, 
Jr., was cousin to Thomas, Lord Culpepper,^" subsequently go- 
vernor of Virginia. Jervis appears to have been owner of a ves- 
sel, the "Betty," (so called after his wife,) in which Culpepper 
sailed from Virginia for Boston, August 10th, 1680. Elizabeth, 
relict of Jervis, married third a Mr. Mole. There are, at the 
present day, persons in Virginia of the name of Bacon, who claim 
to be lineal descendants of the rebel. 



* Hist, Magazine, i. 216. f Ibid., i. 125. 

% Hening, ii. 374. § Ibid., ii. 472. 

|| Vernon's Reports, i. 284. fl Va. Hist. Reg., iii. 190. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



Bacon succeeded by Ingram — Hansford and others executed — Ingram and others 
hold AVest Point — They surrender — Close of Rebellion — Proceedings of Court- 
Martial — Execution of Drummond — His Character — Mrs. Afra Behn — Richard 
Lawrence — His Character. 

Upon Bacon's death, toward the end of 1676, the exact date 
of which can hardly be ascertained, he was succeeded by his 
lieutenant-general, Joseph Ingram, (whose real name was said to 
be Johnson,) who had lately arrived in Virginia. Ingram, sup- 
ported by George Wakelet, or Walklett, his major-general, who 
was very young, Langston, Richard Lawrence, and their ad- 
herents, took possession of West Point, at the head of York 
River, fortified it, and made it their place of arms. West Point, 
or West's Point, so called from the family name of Lord Dela- 
ware, was at one time known as "De la War," and is so laid 
down on John Henry's Map, dated 1770. There is still extant 
there* a ruinous house of stone-marl, which was probably occu- 
pied by Ingram and his confederates. A bake-oven serves to 
strengthen the conjecture. 

As soon as Berkley heard of Bacon's death, he sent over 
Robert Beverley, with a party, in a sloop to York River, where 
they captured Colonel Hansford and some twenty soldiers, at the 
house where Colonel Reade had lived, which appears to have 
been at or near where Yorktown now stands. Hansford was 
taken to Accomac, tried, and condemned to be hanged, and was 
the first native of Virginia that perished in that ignominious 
form, and in America the first martyr that fell in defending the 
rights of the people. He was described by Sir William Berkley 
as "one Hansford, a valiant stout man, and a most resolved 
rebel." When he came to the place of execution, distant about 

* 1847. 

(313) 



814 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

a mile from the place of his confinement, he appeared well re- 
solved to bear his fate, complaining only of the manner of his 
death. Neither during his trial before the court-martial, nor 
afterwards, did he supplicate any favor, save that "he might be 
shot like a soldier, and not hanged like a dog;" but he was told 
that he was condemned not as a soldier, but as a rebel. During 
the short respite allowed him after his sentence, he professed re- 
pentance and contrition for all the sins of his past life, but re- 
fused to acknowledge what was charged against him as rebellion, 
to be one of them ; desiring the people present to take notice that 
"he died a loyal subject and lover of his country, and that he 
had never taken up arms but for the destruction of the Indians, 
who had murdered so many Christians." His execution took 
place on the 13th of November, 1676.* 

Captain Wilford, Captain Farloe, and several others of less note, 
were put to death in Accomac. "Wilford, younger son of a knight 
who had lost his estate and life in defence of Charles the First, 
had taken refuge in Virginia, where he became an Indian inter- 
preter, in which capacity he was very serviceable to Bacon. Far- 
loe had been made an officer by Bacon, upon the recommendation 
of Sir William Berkley, or some of the council. He was a mathe- 
matical scholar, and of a peaceable disposition, and his untimely 
end excited much commiseration. Major Cheesman died in 
prison, probably from ill usage. His wife took to herself the 
entire blame for his having joined Bacon, and on her bended 
knees implored Sir William Berkley to put her to death in his 
stead. The governor answered by applying to her an epithet of 
infamy. Several other prisoners came to their death in prison 
in the same way with Cheesman. 

Sir William Berkley now repaired to York River with four 
merchant-ships, two or three sloops, and one hundred and fifty 
men.f According to another account,! he sent Colonel Ludwell 
with part of his forces to York River, while he himself with the 
rest repaired to Jamestown ; but this appears to be erroneous. 
Sir William proclaimed a general pardon, excepting certain per- 

* Ingram's Proceedings, 33 ; Force's Hist. Tracts, i. 

f T. M. and Mrs. Cotton. J In Va. Gazette. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 315 



BJ 



sons named, especially Lawrence and Drurmnond. Greenspring 
the governor's residence, still held out, being garrisoned with a 
hundred men under a captain Drew, previously a miller, the ap- 
proaches barricaded, and three pieces of cannon planted. A 
party of one hundred and twenty, dispatched by the governor to 
surprise at night a guard of about thirty men and boys, under 
Major "VYhaley, at Colonel Bacon's house on Queen's Creek, were 
defeated, with the loss of their commander, named Farrel. Colo- 
nel Bacon and Colonel Ludwell were present at this affair. 
Major Lawrence Smith, with six hundred Gloucester men, was 
likewise defeated by Ingram at Colonel Pate's house, Smith 
saving himself by flight, and his men being all made prisoners. 
The officer next in command under Smith was a minister. Cap- 
tain Couset with a party being sent against Raines, who headed 
the insurgents on the south side of James River, Raines was 
killed, and his men captured. 

Meanwhile Ingram, Wakelet, and their companions in arms, 
foraged with impunity on the estates of the loyalists, and bade 
defiance to the aged governor. They defended themselves against 
the assaults of Ludwell and others with such resolution and gal- 
lantry, that Berkley, fatigued and exhausted, at length sent, by 
Captain Grantham, a complaisant letter to Wakelet — or, as some 
say, to Ingram — offering an amnesty, on condition of surrender. 
This was agreed to, and in reward for his submission, Berkley 
presented to Wakelet all the Indian plunder deposited at West 
Point. Greenspring was also surrendered by Drew upon terms 
offered by Sir William Berkley. A court-martial was held on 
board of a vessel in York River, January the 11th, 1676-7.* 
Four of the insurgents were condemned by this court: one of 
them, by name Young, had, according to Sir William Berkley, 
held a commission under General Monk long before he de- 
clared for the king; another, a carpenter, who had formerly 

* Consisting of the Right Honorable Sir William Berkley, Knight, Governor 
and Captain-General of Virginia; Colonel Nathaniel Bacon, Colonel William 
Clayborne, Colonel Thomas Ballard, Colonel Southy Littleton, Colonel Philip 
Ludwell, Lieutenant-Colonel John West, Colonel Augustine Warner, Major Law- 
rence Smith, Major Robert Beverley, Captain Anthony Armistead, Colonel Mat- 
thew Kemp, and Captain Daniel Jenifer. 



316 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

been a servant of the governor, but had been made a colonel 
in Bacon's army; one, Hall, was a clerk of a county court, 
but, by his writings, "more useful to the rebels than forty 
armed men." 

When West Point was surrendered, Lawrence and Drummond 
were at the Brick-house in New Kent, on the opposite side of the 
river. On the nineteenth day of January, Drummond was taken 
in the Chickahominy Swamp, half famished, and on the following 
day was brought in a prisoner to Sir William Berkley, who was 
then on board of a vessel at Colonel Bacon's, on Queen's Creek. 
The governor, who, through personal hostility, had vowed that 
Drummond should not live an hour after he fell into his power, 
upon hearing of his arrival, immediately went on shore and saluted 
him with a courtly bow, saying, "Mr. Drummond, you are very 
imwelcome; I am more glad to see you than any man in Vir- 
ginia. Mr. Drummond, you shall be hanged in half an hour." 
He replied, "What your honor pleases." A court-martial was 
immediately held, in time of peace, at the house of James Bray, 
Esq., whither the prisoner was conveyed in irons. He was 
stripped ; and a ring — a pledge of domestic affection — was torn 
from his finger before his conviction ; he was condemned without 
any charge being alleged, and although he had never borne arms ; 
and he was not permitted to defend himself. Condemned at one 
o'clock, he was hurried away to execution on a gibbet at four 
o'clock, at Middle Plantation, with one John Baptista, "a common 
Frenchman, that had been very bloody." Drummond was a sedate 
Scotch gentleman, who had been governor of the infant colony 
of North Carolina, of estimable character, unsullied integrity, and 
signal ability. He had rendered himself extremely obnoxious to 
the governor's hatred by the lively concern which he had always 
evinced in the public grievances. Sir William Berkley mentions 
him as "one Drummond, a Scotchman, that we all suppose was 
the original cause of the whole rebellion." When afterwards the 
petition of his widow, Sarah Drummond, depicting the cruel treat- 
ment of her husband, was read in the king's council in England, 
the lord chancellor, Finch, said: "I know not whether it be law- 
ful to wish a person alive, otherwise I could wish Sir William 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 317 

Berkley so, to see what could be answered to such barbarity; but 
he has answered it before this."* 

Mrs. Afra Behn celebrated Bacon's Rebellion in a tragi-comedy, 
entitled "The Widow Ranter, or the History of Bacon in Vir- 
ginia." Dryden honored it with a prologue. The play failed 
on the stage, and was published in 1690 ; there is a copy of it in 
the British Museum. f It sets historical truth at defiance, and is 
replete with coarse humor and indelicate wit. It is probable that 
Sarah Drummond may have been intended by "The Widow 
Ranter." It appears that one or two expressions in the Decla- 
ration of Independence occur in this old play. 

On the 24th of January, 1677, six other insurgents were con- 
demned to death at Greenspring, and executed. Henry West was 
banished for seven years, and his estate confiscated, save five 
pounds allowed him to pay his passage. William West and John 
Turner, sentenced to death at the same time, escaped from prison. 
William Rookings, likewise sentenced, died in prison. Richard 
Lawrence, with four companions, disappeared from the frontier, 
proceeding on horseback and armed, through a deep snow, pre- 
ferring to perish in the wilderness rather than to share Drum- 
mond's fate. Lawrence was educated at Oxford, and for wit, 
learning, and sobriety, was equalled by few there. He had been 
one of the commissioners for adjusting the boundary line between 
Maryland and Virginia in 1663. He had been defrauded of a 
handsome estate by Berkley's corrupt partiality in behalf of a 
favorite. The rebellion, as it was called, was by most people 
mainly attributed to Lawrence; and it is said that he had before 
thrown out intimations that he hoped to find means by which he 
not only should be able to repair his own losses, but also see the 
country relieved from the governor's "avarice and French des- 
potic modes." Lawrence had married a rich widow, who kept a 
large house of entertainment at Jamestown, which gave him an 
extensive influence. Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., probably had lodged 



* Morrison's Letter, in Burk, ii. 268. 

f Thomas II. Wynne, Esq., of Richmond, who is laudably curious in matters 
connected with Virginia history, has a copy of this play, and I have been in- 
debted to him for the use of that and several other rare books. 



818 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

at his house when search was made for him on the moraine of 

O 

his escape. The author of T. M.'s Account says: "But Mr. 
Bacon was too young, too much a stranger there, and of a dis- 
position too precipitate, to manage things to that length those 
were carried, had not thoughtful Mr. Lawrence been at the 
bottom." 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



Arrival of an English Regiment — The Royal Commissioners — Punishment of Re- 
bels — Execution of Giles Bland — Commissioners investigate the Causes of the 
Rebellion — Seize the Assembly's Journals — Number of Persons executed — 
Cruel Treatment of Prisoners — Bacon's Laws repealed — Act of Pardon — Ex- 
ceptions — Singular Penalties — Evaded by the Courts — Many of Bacon's Laws 
re-enacted — Berkley recalled — Succeeded by JetFreys — Sir William Berkley's 
Death — Notice of his Life and Writings — His Widow. 

On the 29th day of January, 1677, a fleet arrived within the 
capes, from England, under command of Admiral Sir John 
Berry, or Barry, with a regiment of soldiers commanded by 
Colonel Herbert Jeffreys and Colonel Morrison. Sir William 
Berkley held an interview with them at Kiquotan, on board of 
the Bristol; and these three were associated in a commission to 
investigate the causes of the late commotions and to restore 
order. They were instructed to offer a reward of three hundred 
pounds to any one who should arrest Bacon, who was to be taken 
by "all ways of force, or design." And the other colonies were 
commanded by the king not to aid or conceal him; and it was 
ordered, in case of his capture, that he should be brought to trial 
here; or, if his popularity should render it expedient, be sent to 
England for trial and punishment. They were authorized to 
pardon all who would duly take the oath of obedience, and give 
security for their good behavior. Freedom was to be offered to 
servants and slaves who would aid in suppressing the revolt.* 
The same measure had been before adopted by the Long Parlia- 
ment, and was resorted to a century afterwards by Governor Dun- 
more. It is the phenomenon of historical pre-existence. The 
general court and the assembly having now met, several more of 

* Chalmers' Annals, 336. 

(319) 



320 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Bacon's adherents were convicted by a civil tribunal held at 
Greenspring, and put to deatli — most of them men of competent 
fortune and respectable character. Among them was Giles 
Bland, whose friends in England, it was reported, had procured 
his pardon to be sent over with the fleet; but if so, it availed him 
nothing. It was indeed whispered that he was executed under 
private orders brought from England, the Duke of York having 
declared, with an oath, that "Bacon and Bland shall die." 
Bland was convicted March eighth, and executed on the fifteenth, 
at Bacon's Trench, near Jamestown, with another prisoner, 
Robert Jones. Three others were put to death on another day 
at the same place. Anthony Arnold was hung on the fifteenth 
of March, in chains, at West Point. Two others suffered capi- 
tally on the same day, but at what place does not appear, proba- 
bly in their own counties.* 

In the month of April, Secretary Ludwell wrote to Coventry, 
the English secretary of state, "that the grounds of this rebel- 
lion have not proceeded from any real fault in the government, 
but rather from the lewd disposition of desperate fortunes lately 
sprung up among them, which easily seduced the willing minds 
of the people from their allegiance, in the vain hopes of taking 
the country wholly out of his majesty's hands into their own. 
Bacon never intended more by the prosecution of the Indian war 
than as a covert to his villanies." 

The commissioners, who assisted in the trial of these prisoners, 
now proceeded to inquire into the causes of the late distractions ; 
they sat at Swan's Point. The insurgents, who comprised the 
great body of the people of Virginia, had found powerful friends 
among the people of England, and in parliament; and the com- 
missioners discountenanced the excesses of Sir William Berkley, 
and the loyalists, and invited the planters in every quarter to 
bring in their grievances without fear. Jeffreys, one of the com- 
missioners, was about to succeed Governor Berkley. In their 
zeal for investigation the commissioners seized the journals of the 
assembly; and the burgesses in October, 1677, demanded satis- 
faction for this indignity, declaring that such a seizure could not 

* Burk, ii. 255. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 321 

have been authorized even by an order under the great seal, be- 
cause "they found that such a power had never been exercised 
by the king of England" — an explicit declaration of the legisla- 
tive independence of the colony. Their language was stigma- 
tized by Charles the Second as seditious.* 

The number of persons executed was twenty-three, f of whom 
twelve were condemned by court-martial. The jails were crowded 
with prisoners, and in the general consternation many of the in- 
habitants were preparing to leave the country. During eight 
months Virginia had suffered civil war, devastation, executions, 
and the loss of one hundred thousand pounds, — so violent was 
the effort of nature to throw off the malady of despotism and 
misrule. Charles the Second, in October, issued two proclama- 
tions, authorizing Berkley to pardon all except Nathaniel Bacon, 
Jr. ; and afterwards another, declaring Sir William's of February, 
1677, not conformable to his instructions, in excepting others 
besides Bacon from pardon, and abrogating it. Yet the king's 
commissioners assisted in the condemnation of several of the pri- 
soners. An act of pardon, under the great seal, brought over by 
Lord Culpepper, was afterwards unanimously passed by the as- 
sembly in June, 1680, and several persons are excepted in it who 
were included in Sir William's "bloody bill" in February, 1677. J 

The people complained to the commissioners of the illegal 
seizing of their estates by the governor and his royalist sup- 
porters; and of their being imprisoned after submitting them- 
selves upon the governor's proclamation of pardon and indem- 
nity; and of being compelled to pay heavy fines and compositions 
by threats of being brought to trial, which was in every instance 
tantamount to conviction. Berkley and some of the royalists 
that sat on the trial of the prisoners, were forward in impeach- 
ing, accusing, and reAnling them — accusing and condemning, both 
at once. Sir William Berkley caused Drummond's small planta- 
tion to be seized upon and given to himself by his council, 
removing and embezzling the personal property, and thus com- 
pelling his widow, with her children, to fly from her home, ana 



* Chalmers' Revolt, i. 163, and Annals, 337. f Hening, ii. 370. 

X Hening, ii. 3GC, 428, 458. 

21 



322 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

wander in the wilderness and woods until they were well-nigh re- 
duced to starvation, when relieved by the arrival of the commis- 
sioners. At length the assembly, in an address to the governor, 
deprecated any further sanguinary punishments, and he was pre- 
vailed upon, reluctantly, to desist. All the acts of the assembly 
of June, 1676, called "Bacon's Laws," were repealed, as well by 
the order and proclamation of King Charles, as also by act of 
the assembly held at Greenspring, in February, 1677.* 

The assembly granted indemnity and pardon for all acts com- 
mitted since the 1st of April, 1676, excepting Nathaniel Bacon, 
Jr., and about fifty others, including certain persons deceased, 
executed, escaped, and banished. The principal persons excepted 
were Cheesman, Hunt, Hansford, Wilford, Carver, Drummond, 
Crewes, Farloe, Hall, William and Henry West, Lawrence, 
Bland, Whaley, Arnold, Ingram, Wakelet, Scarburgh, and Sarah, 
wife of Thomas Grindon. Twenty were attainted of high trea- 
son, and their estates confiscated. The provisoes of the act Ac- 
tually left the whole power of punishment still in the hands of 
the governor and council. Minor punishments were inflicted on 
others; some were compelled to sue for pardon on their knees, 
with a rope about the neck; others fined, disfranchised, or 
banished. These penalties did not meet with the approbation of 
the people, and were in several instances evaded by the conni- 
vance of the courts. John Bagwell and Thomas Gordon, adjudged 
to appear at Rappahannock Court with halters about their necks, 
were allowed to appear with "small tape;" in the same county 
William Potts wore "a Manchester binding," instead of a halter. 

The assembly, in accordance with one of Bacon's laws, declared 
Indian prisoners slaves, and their property lawful prize. An 
order was made for building a new state-house at Tindall's (Glou- 
cester) Point, on the north side of York River, but it was never 
carried into effect. Many of the acts of this session are almost 
exact copies of "Bacon's Laws," the titles only being altered — a 
conclusive proof of the abuses and usurpations of those in power, 
and of the merits of acts passed by those stigmatized and pu- 
nished as rebels and traitors. Such likewise was the conduct of 

* Hening, ii. 365. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 323 

the British Parliament in relation to the legislation of the Com- 
monwealth of England. The fourth of May was appointed a 
fast-day, and August the twenty-second a day of thanksgiving. 

Sir William Berkley, worn down with agitations which his age 
was unequal to, and in feeble health, being recalled by the king, 
ceased to be governor on the 27th of April, 1677, and returned 
in the fleet to London, leaving Colonel Herbert Jeffreys in his 
place, who was sworn into office on the same day. His commis- 
sion was dated November the 11th, 1676 — the twenty-eighth 
year of Charles the Second. In July, 1675, Lord Culpepper had 
been appointed governor-in-chief of Virginia, but he did not arrive 
till the beginning of 1680 ; had he come over when first appointed, 
it might have prevented Bacon's Rebellion. 

Sir William Berkley died on the thirteenth of July, 1677, of 
a broken heart, as some relate,* without ever seeing the king, 
having been confined to his chamber from the day of his arrival. 
According to others, King Charles expressed his approbation of 
his conduct, and the kindest regard for him, and made frequent 
inquiry respecting his health.f Others again, on the contrary, 
report that the king said of him: "That old fool has hanged 
more men in that naked country than I have done for the murder 
of my father."| Sir William Berkley was a native of London, 
and educated at Morton College, Oxford, of which he was after- 
wards a fellow, and in 1629 was made Master of Arts. He made 
the tour of Europe in the year 1630. He held the place of 
governor of Virginia from 1639 to 1651, and from 1659 to 1677 
-^a period of thirty years, a term equalled by no other governor 
of the colony. He published a tragi-comedy, "The Lost Lady," 
in 1639, the year in which he came first to Virginia. Pepys, in 
his Diary, mentions seeing it acted. Sir William published also, 
in 1663, "A Discourse and View of Virginia." He was buried 
at Twickenham, since illustrated by the genius of Pope. Sir 
William Berkley left no children. By a will, dated May the 2d, 
1676, he bequeathed his estate to his widow. He declares him- 
self to have been under no obligation whatever to any of his 



* Chalmers' Introduction, i. 164. f Beverley, B. i. 79. 

J T. M.'s Account. 



324 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

kindred except his sister, Mrs. Jane Davies, (of whom he appears 
to have been fond,) and his brother, Lord Berkley. Sir William 
married the widow of Samuel Stephens, of Warwick County, Vir- 
ginia. She, after Sir William's death, was sued by William 
Drummond's widow for trespass, in taking from her land a quan- 
tity of corn, and in spite of a strenuous defence, a verdict was 
found against the defendant. In 1680 she intermarried with 
Colonel Philip Ludwell, of Rich Neck, but still retained the title 
of "Dame (or Lady) Frances Berkley." 

Samuel Stephens was the son of Dame Elizabeth Harvey 
(widow of Sir John Harvey) by a former marriage.* 

It does not appear when Colonel William Clayborne, first of 
the name in Virginia, died, or where he was buried, but probably 
in the County of New Kent. There is a novel entitled " Clay- 
borne the Rebel. "f 

Colonel William Clayborne, Jr., eldest son of the above 
mentioned, was probably the one appointed (1676) to command 
a fort at Indiantown Landing, in New Kent, together with Major 
Lyddal,! as the father was probably then too old for that post. 
Some suppose also that it was the son that sat on the trial of 
the rebels. A certificate of the valor of William Clayborne, Jr., 
is recorded in King William County Court-house, signed by Sir 
William Berkley, dated in March, 1677, attested by Nathaniel 
Bacon, Sir Philip Ludwell, Ralph Wormley, and Richard Lee. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Clayborne, only brother of William 
Clayborne, Jr., lies buried not far from West Point, in King Wil- 
liam County. He was killed by an Indian arrow which wounded 
him- in the foot. It appears that each of the sons of Secretary 
Clayborne had a son named Thomas. Colonel Thomas Clay- 
borne, son of Captain Thomas Clayborne, is said to have married 
three times, and to have been father of twenty-seven children. 
One of his daughters married a General Phillips of the British 
army, and is said to have been the mother of Colonel Ralph 
Phillips, of the British army, who fell at Waterloo, and of the 



* Mass. Gen. and Antiq. Register for 1847, p. 348. 

f By William H. Carpenter, Esq., of Maryland. Published in 1846. 

X Hening, ii. 526. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 325 

distinguished Irish orator who died recently. Another son, Wil- 
liam Clayborne, married a Miss Leigh, of Virginia, and was 
father of William Charles Cole Clayborne, Governor of Louisiana, 
and of General Ferdinand Leigh Clayborne, late of Mississippi. 
He assisted General Jackson in planning the battle of New Or- 
leans. The widow of this Governor Clayborne married John R. 
Grymes, Esq., the eminent New Orleans lawyer. And a daughter 
of the governor married John H. B. Latrobe, Esq., of Baltimore. 

Colonel Augustine Clayborne, son of Colonel Thomas Clay- 
borne, was appointed clerk of Sussex County Court in the year 
1754, by William Adair, secretary of the colony. His son, Bul- 
ler Clayborne, was aid-de-camp to General Lincoln, and is said 
to have received a wound while interposing himself between the 
general and a party of British soldiers. Mary Herbert, a sister 
of Buller Clayborne, married an uncle of General William Henry 
Harrison. Herbert Clayborne, eldest son of Colonel Augustine 
Clayborne, married Mary, daughter of Buller Herbert, of Puddle- 
dock, near Petersburg. Puddledock is the name of a street in 
London. Herbert Augustine Clayborne was second son of Her- 
bert Clayborne, of Elson Green, King William County, and Mary 
Burnet, eldest daughter of William Burnet Browne, of Elson 
Green, and before of Salem, Massachusetts. 

The Honorable William Browne, of Massachusetts, married 
Mary Burnet, daughter of William Burnet, (Governor of New 
York and of Massachusetts,) and Mary, daughter of Dean Stan- 
hope, of Canterbury. William Burnet was eldest son of Gilbert 
Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, and Mrs. Mary Scott, his second 
wife. Thus it appears that Herbert Clayborne married a de- 
scendant of Bishop Burnet. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



167V-1G81. 



Failure of the Charter — Sir William Berkley's Proclamation revoked — Ludwell's 
Quarrel with Jeffreys — Jeffreys dying is succeeded by Sir Henry Chicheley — 
Culpepper, Governor-in-Chief, arrives — His Administration — He returns to 
England by way of Boston. 

The agents of Virginia, in 1675, had strenuously solicited the 
grant of a new charter, and their eiforts, though long fruitless, 
seemed at length about to be crowned with success, when the 
news of Bacon's rebellion furnished the government with a new 
pretext for violating its engagements. By the report of the 
committee for plantations, adopted by the king in council, and 
twice ordered to be passed into a new charter under the great 
seal, it was provided, "that no imposition or taxes shall be laid 
or imposed upon the inhabitants and proprietors there, but by the 
common consent of the governor, council, and burgesses, as hath 
been heretofore used," reserving, however, to parliament the 
right to lay duties upon commodities shipped from the colony. 
The news of the rebellion frustrated this scheme; the promised 
charter slept in the Hamper* office; and the one actually sent 
afterwards was meagre and unsatisfactory. Colonel Jeffreys, 
successor to Berkley, effected a treaty of peace with the Indians, 
each town agreeing to pay three arrows for their land, and 
twenty beaver skins for protection, every year. He convened an 
assembly at the house of Captain Otho Thorpe, at Middle Plan- 
tation, in October, 1677, being the twenty-ninth year of Charles 
the Second. William Traverse was speaker, and Robert Bever- 
ley clerk. The session lasted for one month. According to 
instructions given to Sir William Berkley, dated in November, 
1676, the governor was no longer obliged to call an assembly 
yearly, but only once in two years, and the session was limited 

* Hening, ii. 531 ; Hamper, i.e. Hanaper. 

(326) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 327 

to fourteen days, unless the governor should see good cause to 
continue it beyond that time; and the members of the assembly 
were to be elected only by freeholders. During this session re- 
gulations were adopted for the Indian trade, and fairs appointed 
for the sale of Indian commodities; but the natives being suspi- 
cious of innovations, these provisions soon became obsolete. 

In 1677 Colonel Nathaniel Bacon, Sr., by a warrant from the 
treasury in England, was appointed auditor of the public accounts. 
At this time Colonel Norwood was treasurer, but the governor 
and council, from motives of economy, united his office with that 
of auditor. 

It has before been mentioned that the king, by proclamation 
in 1677, revoked and abrogated Sir William Berkley's proclama- 
tion of February of the same year, as containing "an exception 
and exclusion from pardon of divers and sundry persons in his 
said proclamation named, for which he hath no ground or 
authority from our foresaid proclamation, the same being free 
and without exception of any person besides the said Nathaniel 
Bacon, who should submit themselves according to the tenor of 
our said proclamation."* 

This appears to be unjust to the governor; for the words of 
the king's proclamation of October are: "And we do by these 
presents give and grant full power and authority to you, our said 
governor, for us and in our name to pardon, release, and forgive 
unto all such our subjects (other than the said Nathaniel Bacon) 
as you shall think fit and convenient for our service, all treasons, 
felonies," etc., evidently investing the governor with discretionary 
powers. The capitulation agreed upon with Ingram and Walklet, 
at West Point, appears to have been violated by Governor Berk- 
ley and the assembly. Colonel Philip Ludwell, alleging that he 
had suifered loss by Walklet's incursions, sued him in New Kent 
for damages. The defendant appealing to Jeffreys, he granted 
him a protection. Whereupon, Ludwell declared that "the go- 
vernor, Jeffreys, was a worse rebel than Bacon, for he had broke 



* The direction of this proclamation is as follows: "To our trusty and well- 
beloved Herbert Jeffreys, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor, and the council of our 
colony and plantation of Virginia in the West Indies." 



328 HISTORY OF THE colony and 

the laws of the country, which Bacon never did; that he was 
perjured in delaying or preventing the execution of the laws, 
contrary to his oath of governor; that he was not worth a groat 
in England; and that if every pitiful little fellow with a periwig 
that came in governor to this country had liberty to make the 
laws, as this had done, his children, nor no man's else, could be 
safe in the title or estate left them." Jeffreys having laid these 
charges and criminations before the council, they submitted the 
case to a jury who found Ludwell guilty. The matter was referred 
to the king in council; and in the mean while the accused was 
compelled to give security in the penalty of a thousand pounds, 
to abide the determination of the case, and five hundred for his 
good behavior to the governor. 

Westmoreland was the only county that declared that it had 
no grievances to complain of, and the sincerity of this declara- 
tion may well be doubted. Accomac claimed as a reward for her 
loyalty an exemption from taxation for a period of twenty years. 
A letter, bearing date December the 27th, 1677, addressed by the 
king to Jeffreys, informed him that Lord Culpepper had been ap- 
pointed governor, but that while he (Jeffreys) continued to per- 
form the duties of the office, he should be no loser, and stating 
the arrangement which had been made as to the payment of their 
salaries. Jeffreys dying in December, 1678, was succeeded by 
the aged Sir Henry Chicheley, deputy governor, who entered 
upon the duties on the thirteenth of that month, his commission 
being dated February 28th, 1674. 

Thomas, Lord Culpepper, Baron of Thorsway, had been ap- 
pointed in July, 1675, governor of Virginia for life — an able, but 
artful and covetous man.* He had been one of the commission- 
ers for plantations some years before. He Avas disposed to look 
upon his office as a sinecure, but being reproved in December, 
1679, by the king for remaining so long in England, he came 
over to the colony in 1680, and was sworn into office on the tenth 
of May. He found Virginia tranquil. He brought over several 
bills ready draughted in England to be passed by the assembly, 



* Account of Va. in Mass. Hist. Coll., first series, v. 142. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 829 

it being "intended to introduce here the modes of Ireland."* 
His lordship being invested with full powers of pardon, found it 
the more easy to obtain from the people whatever he asked. 
After procuring the enactment of several popular acts, including 
one of indemnity and oblivion, he managed to have the impost of 
two shillings on every hogshead of tobacco made perpetual, and 
instead of being accounted for to the assembly, as formerly, to be 
disposed of as his majesty might think fit. Culpepper, notwith- 
standing the impoverished condition of the colony, contrived to 
enlarge his salary from one thousand pounds to upwards of two 
thousand, besides perquisites amounting to eight hundred more. 
After the rebellion, the governor was empowered to suspend a 
councillor from his place. It was also ordered, that in case of 
the death or removal of the governor, the president, or oldest 
member of the council, with the assistance of five members of 
that body, should administer the government until another .ap- 
pointment should be made by the crown. f 

In the year 1680 Charles the Second granted to William 
Blathwayt the place of surveyor and auditor-general of all his 
revenues in America, with a salary of five hundred pounds to be 
paid out of the same, Virginia's share of the salary being one 
hundred pounds. 

In August of this year, Lord Culpepper returned to England, 
by way of Boston, in the ship "Betty," belonging to Jervis, who 
married the widow of Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., (a cousin of Culpep- 
per,) Jervis being also a passenger. Elizabeth, or Betty, was the 
Christian name of Bacon's widow. The vessel having run 
aground in the night, his lordship landed on the wild New Eng- 
land shore, one hundred and thirty miles from Boston, with two 
servants, each carrying a gun, and made his way twenty miles to 
Sandwich, where he was furnished with horses and a guide, and 
so reached Boston, where the Betty arrived ten days thereafter. 
In a letter, dated September the twentieth, addressed to his sister, 
he mentions that he has with him, "John Polyn, the cook, the 



* Chalmers' Introduction, i. 164. 

j- In 1078 the vestry at Middle Plantation determined to erect a brick church, 
the former one being of wood. 



330 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

page, the great footman, and the little one that embroiders." 
The Betty conveyed soldiers, servants, plate, goods, and furni- 
ture. Culpepper was received at Boston by twelve companies of 
militia; and was well pleased with the place, "finding no differ- 
ence between it and Old England, but only want of company."* 

Virginia now enjoyed repose, and large crops of tobacco were 
raised, and the price again fell to a low ebb. The discontents of 
the planters were aggravated by the act "for cohabitation and 
encouragement of trade and manufacture," restricting vessels to 
certain prescribed ports where the government desired to esta- 
blish towns. 

In the year 1680 Charleston was founded, the metropolis of the 
infant colony of South Carolina. By the grant of Pennsylvania, 
made by Charles the Second to William Penn, dated in March, 
1881, Virginia lost another large portion of her territory. 

* Va. Hist. Reg., iii. 189. 



CHAPTER XL. 



1681-1683. 



Statistics of Virginia — Colonial Revenue — Courts of Law — Ecclesiastical Affairs 
— Militia — Indians — Negroes — Riotous cutting up of Tobacco-plants — Culpep- 
per returns — Declaration of Assembly expunged — The Governor alters the 
Value of Coin by Proclamation. 

From a statistical account of Virginia, .as reported by Culpep- 
per to the committee of the colonies, in 1681, it appears that 
there were at that time forty-one burgesses, being two from each 
of twenty counties, and one from Jamestown. The colonial re- 
venue consisted — First, of parish levies, " commonly managed by 
sly cheating fellows, that combine to cheat the public." Secondly, 
public levies raised by act of assembly, both derived from tithables 
or working hands, of which there were about fourteen thousand. 
The cost of collecting this part of the revenue was estimated at 
not less than twenty per centum. Thirdly, two shillings per 
hogshead on tobacco exported, which, together with some tonnage 
duties, amounted to three thousand pounds a year. The county 
courts held three sessions in the year, an appeal lying to the 
governor and council, and from them, in actions of three hundred 
pounds sterling value, to his majesty; in causes of less conse- 
quence, to the assembly. 

The ecclesiastical affairs of the colony were subject to the con- 
trol of the governor, who granted probates of wills, and had the 
right of presentation to all livings, the ordinary value of which 
was sixty pounds per annum ; but at that particular time, owing 
to the impoverishment of the country and the low price of 
tobacco, not worth half that sum. The number of livings was 
seventy-six. Lord Culpepper adds: "And the parishes paying 
the ministers themselves, have used to claim the right of presen- 
tation, (or rather of not paying,) whether the governor will or 
not, which must not be allowed, and yet must be managed with 
great caution." There was no fort in Virginia defensible against 

(331) 



332 HISTORY OF TIIE COLONY AND 

a European enemy, nor any security for ships against a superior 
sea force. There were perhaps fifteen thousand fighting men in 
the country.* 

His lordship describes the north part of Carolina as "the re- 
fuge of our renegades, and till in better order, dangerous to us." 
Yet it is certain that some of the early settlers of this part of 
North Carolina were of exemplary character, and were driven 
from Virginia by intolerance and persecution. According to his 
lordship, " Maryland is now in a ferment, and not only troubled 
with our disease, poverty, but in a great danger of falling to 
pieces." The colony of Virginia was at peace with the Indians; 
but long experience had taught, in regard to that treacherous 
race, that when there was the least suspicion then was there the 
greatest danger. But the most ruinous evil that afflicted the 
colony was the extreme low price of the sole commodity, tobacco. 
"For the market is overstocked, and every crop overstocks it 
more. Our thriving is our undoing, and our buying of blacks 
hath extremely contributed thereto by making more tobacco. "f 

Emancipated Indian or negro slaves were prohibited from buy- 
ing Christian servants, but were allowed to buy those of their 
own nation. Negro children imported had their ages recorded 
by the court, and became tithable at the age of twelve years. In 
June, 1680, an act was passed for preventing an insurrection of 
the negro slaves, and it was ordered that it should be published 
twice a year at the county courts of the parish churches. J 
Negroes were not allowed to remain on another plantation more 
than four hours without leave of the owner or overseer. 

After "his excellency," Lord Culpepper, went away from Vir- 
ginia in August, 1680, leaving Sir Henry Chicheley deputy 
governor, tranquillity prevailed until the time for shipping to- 
bacco in the following year, when the trade was greatly obstructed 
by the act for establishing towns, which required vessels to be 
laden at certain specified places. The act being found impracti- 
cable, was disobeyed, and much disturbance ensued. In compli- 



* The number of half-armed train-bands, in 1680, were 7268 foot and 1300 
horse — total, 85G8. — Chalmers' Annals, 357. 

f Chalmers' Annals, 355. % Hening, ii. 481, 492. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 333 

ance with the petitions of several dissatisfied counties, an assem- 
bly was called together in April, 1682, by Sir Henry Chicheley, 
■without the consent of the council. The session being occupied 
in agitating debates, the body was dissolved, and another sum- 
moned, according to an order just received from the crown, to 
meet in November, 1682, by which time Culpepper was com- 
manded to return to Virginia. The disaffected in the petitioning 
counties, Gloucester, New Kent, and Middlesex, in May pro- 
ceeded riotously to cut up the tobacco-plants in the beds, espe- 
cially the sweet-scented, which was produced nowhere else. To 
put a stop to this outbreak, the deputy governor issued sundry 
proclamations.* 

Lord Culpepper having arrived, the assembly met shortly after- 
wards. He demanded of the council an account of their adminis- 
tration during his absence, and it was rendered. In his address 
to the assembly, he enlarged upon the king's generous and unde- 
served concessions to the colony; he announced the king's high 
displeasure at the declaration made by them that the seizing of 
their records by the king's commissioners was an unwarrantable 
violation of their privileges, and, in the king's name, ordered the 
same to be expunged from the journal of the house, and proposed 
to them a bill asserting the right of the king and his officers to 
call for all their records and journals whenever they should think 
it necessary for the public service. 

The governor claiming authority to raise the value of the coin, 
the assembly warmly opposed it, as a dangerous encroachment 
on their constitutional rights ; and a bill was brought in for regu- 
lating the value of coins, which was interrupted by the governor, 
who claimed that power as belonging to the royal prerogative. 
lie issued a proclamation, in 1683, raising the value of crowns, 
rix dollars, and pieces of eight, from five to six shillings, half 
pieces to three shillings, quarter pieces to eighteen pence, and the 
New England coin to one shilling, declaring money at this rate a 
lawful tender, except for the duty of two shillings a hogshead on 
tobacco, the quit-rents, and other duties payable to his majesty, 
and for debts contracted for bills of exchange. His own salary 

* Hening, ii. 561. 



334 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

and the king's revenues were, in this way, in a period of distress, 
exempted from the operation of the act, a proceeding characteristic 
of the reign of Charles the Second, in which official energy was 
mainly exhibited in measures of injustice and extortion. 

The ringleaders in the plant cutting were arrested, and some 
of them hanged upon a charge of treason ; and this, together with 
the enactment of a riot act, and making the offence high treason, 
put a stop to the practice.* 

* Chalmers' Annals, 340; Hening, iii. 10. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

1683-1G88. 

Persecution of Eobert Beverley — Plots and Executions in England — Culpepper 
returns to England — Spencer, President — Culpepper is displaced — Succeeded 
by Effingham — Beverley, found guilty, asks Pardon, and is released — Miscel- 
laneous Affairs — Death of Charles the Second — Succeeded by James the Se- 
cond — Beverley again Clerk — Duke of Monmouth beheaded — Adherents of 
Monmouth sent Prisoners to Virginia — Instructions respecting them — Death 
of Robert Beverley — Despotism of James the Second — Servile Insurrection 
prevented — Virginia refuses to contribute to the erection of Forts in New 
York — Commotions in Virginia — Effingham's Corruption and Tyranny — He 
embarks for England — Ludwell dispatched to lay Virginia's Grievances before 
the Government — Abdication of James the Second. 

The vengeance of the government fell heavily upon Major 
Robert Beverley, clerk of the house of burgesses, as the chief 
instigator of these disturbances. He had incurred the displea- 
sure of the governor and council by refusing to deliver up to 
them copies of the legislative journals, without permission of the 
house. Beverley had rendered important services in suppressing 
Bacon's rebellion, and had won the special favor of Sir William 
Berkley; but as circumstances change, men change with them, 
and now by a steady adherence to his duty to the assembly, he 
drew down upon his head unrelenting persecution. In the month 
of May, 1682, he was committed a close prisoner on board the 
ship Duke of York, lying in the Rappahannock.* Ralph 
Wormley, Matthew Kemp, and Christopher Wormley, were 
directed to seize the records in Beverley's possession, and to 
break open doors if necessary. He complained, in a note ad- 
ed to the captain, and claimed the rights of a freeborn Eng- 
lishman. He was transferred from the Duke of York to Captain 
Jeffries, commander of the Concord, and a guard set over him. 
He was next sent on board of Colonel Custis's sloop, to be taken 

* Hening, iii. 540. 

(335) 



336 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

to Northampton. Escaping from the custody of the sheriff of 
York, the prisoner was retaken at his own house in Middlesex, 
and sent to Northampton, on the Eastern Shore. Some months 
after, he applied for a writ of habeas corpus, which was refused; 
and in a short time, being again found at large, he was remanded 
to Northampton. In January, 1683, new charges were brought 
against him: First, that he had broken open letters addressed 
to the secretary's office; Secondly, that he had made up the 
journal, and inserted his majesty's letter therein, notwithstand- 
ing it had first been presented at the time of the prorogation; 
Thirdly, that in 1682 he had refused copies of the journal to the 
governor and council, saying "he might not do it without leave 
of his masters." 

In the year 1680, England was agitated and alarmed with the 
"Popish plot;" and the Earl of Stafford and divers others were 
executed on the information of Oates and other witnesses. In 
July, 1683, Lord Russell was beheaded on a charge of treason, 
and others suffered the same fate as being implicated in what was 
styled the "Protestant plot." 

Culpepper, after staying about a year in Virginia, returned to 
England, leaving his kinsman, secretary Nicholas Spencer, presi- 
dent. Thus, again, quitting the colony in violation of his orders, 
he was arrested immediately on his arrival ; and having received 
presents from the assembly, contrary to his instructions, a jury 
of Middlesex found that he had forfeited his commission. This 
example having shown that he who acts under independent 
authority will seldom obey even reasonable commands, no more 
governors were appointed for life.* Beverley f gives a different 
account: "The next year, being 1684, upon the Lord Culpepper 
refusing to return, Francis, Lord Howard of Effingham, was sent 
over governor." But Chalmers, having access to the records of 
the English government, appears to be the better authority. 

Lord Culpepper having it in vieAV, as was said, to purchase the 
propriety of the Northern Neck, lying between the Rappahan- 
nock and the Potomac, in order to further his design, had fo- 
mented a dispute between the house of burgesses and the coun- 

* Chalmers' Annals, 345. -j- Beverley, B. i. 89. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 837 

cil ; and the quarrel running high, his lordship procured from the 
king instructions to abolish appeals from the general court to the 
assembly, and transfer them to the crown. However, Culpepper 
being a man of strong judgment, introduced some salutary 
amendments to the laws. During his time, instead of fixed gar- 
risons, rangers were employed in guarding the frontier. In Oc- 
tober died Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Clayborne, (son of Colonel 
William Clayborne,) mortally wounded in an engagement with 
the Indians, which took place near West Point, at the head of 
York River; he lies buried on the same spot, in compliance with 
his dying request. The son appears to have inherited the spirit 
of his father. 

Lord Culpepper was succeeded by Francis, Lord Howard of 
Effingham, whose appointment was the last act of Charles the 
Second in relation to the colony of Virginia. Lord Effingham 
was appointed in August, 1683, the thirty-fifth year of the king's 
reign, commissioned in September, and arriving in Virginia 
during February, 1684, entered upon the duties of the office in 
April. The assembly met on the following day. Acts were 
passed to prevent plant cutting, and preserve the peace; to sup- 
ply the inhabitants with arms and ammunition ; to repeal the act 
for encouragement of domestic manufactures ; to provide for the 
better defence of the colony ; laying for the first time an impost 
on liquors imported from other English plantations; exempting 
such as were imported by Virginians for their own use, and in 
their own vessels. The burgesses, in behalf of the inhabitants of 
the Northern Neck, then called Potomac Neck, prayed the go- 
vernor to secure them by patent in their titles to their lands, 
which had been invaded by Culpepper's charter. The governor 
replied that he was expecting a favorable decision on the matter 
from the king. 

About this time the name of Zach. Taylor, a surveyor, is men- 
tioned, an ancestor of General Zachary Taylor, some time Presi- 
dent of the United States.* 

In May, 1684, Robert Beverley was found guilty of high mis- 



* One of the James River merchant-vessels mentioned by the first William 
Byrd, was called the "Zach. Taylor." 

22 



338 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

demeanors, but judgment being respited, and the prisoner asking 
pardon on his bended knees, was released, upon giving security 
for his good behavior. His counsel was William Fitzhugh, of 
Stafford County, a lawyer of reputation, and a planter. Bever- 
ley was charged with having led the people to believe that there 
would be a "cessation" of the tobacco crop in 1680, and such 
appears to have been the general impression in the summer of 
that year.* The abject terms in which he now sued for pardon 
form a singular contrast to his former constancy; and it is 
curious to find the loyal Beverley, the strenuous partizan of 
Berkley, now the victim of the tyranny which he had formerly 
defended with so much energy and success. 

On the twentieth day of May, of this year, Lord Baltimore 
was at Jamestown on a visit to the governor, with a view of em- 
barking there for England. 

Owing to the incursions of the Five Nations upon the frontiers 
of Virginia, it was deemed expedient to treat with them through 
the governor of New York ; and for this purpose Lord Effing- 
ham, Governor of Virginia, leaving the administration in the 
hands of Colonel Bacon, of the council, and accompanied by two 
councillors, sailed, June the twenty-third, in the " Quaker Ketch," 
to New York, and thence repaired to Albany, in July. There he 
met Governor Dongan, of New York, the agent of Massachu- 
setts, the magistrates of Albany, and the chiefs of the warlike 
Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagos, and Cayugas. The tomahawk 
was buried, the chain of friendship brightened, and the tree of 
peace planted. It was during this year that the charter of 
Massachusetts was dissolved by a writ of quo warranto. In the 
same year Talbot, a kinsman of the Calverts, and a member of 
the Maryland Council, killed, in a private rencontre, Kousby, the 
collector of the customs for that province; he was tried in Vir- 
ginia, and convicted, but subsequently pardoned by James the 
Second. 

Evelyn f says: "I can never forget the inexpressible luxury, 
and profaneness, gaming, and all dissoluteness, and, as it were, 
total forgetfulness of God, (it being Sunday evening,) which this 

* Va. Hist. Reg., i. 166. •]- Diary, ii. 211. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 839 

day se'nniglit I was witness of, the king sitting and toying with 
his concubines, Portsmouth, Cleveland, and Mazarine, etc., a 
French boy singing love-songs in that glorious gallery, while 
about twenty of the great courtiers, and other dissolute persons, 
were at basset round a large table, a bank of at least two thou- 
sand pounds in gold before them; upon which two gentlemen, 
who were with me, made reflections with astonishment. Six days 
after, all was in the dust." 

Rochester, in his epigram, described Charles the Second as one 

Who never said a foolish thing, and never did a wise one. 

But it is much easier to discover the foolish things that he did, 
than the wise things that he said. He was good-natured, free 
from vindictiveness, and had some appreciation of science. 

The succession of James the Second to the throne was pro- 
claimed in the Ancient Dominion of Virginia "with extraor- 
dinary joy." The enthusiasm of their loyalty was soon lowered, 
for the assembly meeting on the 1st day of October, 1685, and 
warmly resisting the negative power claimed by the governor, 
was prorogued on the same day to the second of November fol- 
lowing. Robert Beverley was again clerk. Strong resolutions, 
complaining of the governor's veto, were passed. After sitting 
for some time this and other bills were presented to him for his 
signature, which he refused to give, and appearing suddenly in 
the house prorogued it again to the 20th of October, 1686. 

The Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of Charles the 
Second, failing in a rash insurrection, was beheaded, July the 
fourteenth of this year. 

The first parliament of the new reign laid an impost on to- 
bacco; the planters, in abject terms, supplicated James to sus- 
pend the duty imposed on their staple ; but he refused to comply. 
They also took measures to encourage domestic manufactures, 
which were disapproved of by the lords of the committee of colo- 
nies, as contrary to the acts of navigation. Nevertheless, on the 
reception of the news of the defeat of the Duke of Monmouth, 
the Virginians sent a congratulatory address to the king. 

A number of the prisoners taken with Monmouth, and who had 
escaped the cruelty of Jeffreys, were sent to Virginia; and King 



340 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

James instructed Effingham on this occasion in the following 
letter:* 

"Right trusty and well-beloved, — We greet you well. 
As it has pleased God to deliver into our hands such of our 
rebellious subjects as have taken up arms against us, for which 
traitorous practices some of them have suffered death according 
to law; so we have been graciously pleased to extend our mercy 
to many others by ordering their transportation to several parts 
of our dominions in America, where they are to be kept as ser- 
vants to the inhabitants of the same ; and to the end their punish- 
ment may in some measure answer their crimes, we do think fit 
hereby to signify our pleasure unto you, our governor and coun- 
cil of Virginia, that you take all necessary care that such con- 
victed persons as were guilty of the late rebellion, that shall 
arrive within that our colony, whose names are hereunto annexed, f 
be kept there, and continue to serve their masters for the space 
of ten years at least. And that they be not permitted in any 
manner to redeem themselves by money or otherwise until that 
term be fully expired. And for the better effecting hereof, you 
are to frame and propose a bill to the assembly of that our colony, 
with such provisions and clauses as shall be requisite for this 
purpose, to which you, our governor, are to give your assent, and 
to transmit the same unto us for our royal confirmation. Wherein 
expecting a ready compliance, we bid you heartily farewell. 
Given at our court at Whitehall, the 4th of October, 1685, in the 
first year of our reign. 

" SUNDERLAND." 

Virginia made no law conformable to the requisitions of the 
king. 

James the Second, strongly resenting the too democratical pro- 
ceedings of the Virginia assembly, ordered their dissolution, and 
that Robert Beverley, as chief promoter of these disputes, should 
be disfranchised and prosecuted,^ and directed that in future the 
appointment of the clerk of the house of burgesses should be 

* Chalmers' Annals, 358 

■j- The list is still preserved in the London state-paper office. 

J Hening, iii. 40. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 341 

made by the governor. Several persons were punished about 
this time for seditious and treasonable conduct. In May, 1687, 
the assembly was dissolved. In the spring of this year Robert 
Beverley died — the victim of tyranny and martyr of constitu- 
tional liberty: long a distinguished loyalist, he lived to become 
still more distinguished as a patriot. It is thus in human incon- 
sistency that extremes meet. 

The English merchants engaged in the tobacco trade, in August, 
1687, complained to the committee of the colonies of the mis- 
chiefs consequent upon the exportation of tobacco in bulk ; and 
the committee advised the assembly to prohibit this practice. 
The assembly refused compliance; but the regulation was subse- 
quently established by parliament. A meditated insurrection of 
the blacks was discovered in the Northern Neck just in time to 
prevent its explosion. In November a message had been received 
from the Governor of New York, communicating the king's in- 
structions to him to build forts for the defence of that colony, 
and the king's desire that Virginia should contribute to that ob- 
ject, as being for the common defence of the colonies. This 
project of James, it was suspected, had its origin in his own pro- 
prietary interest in New York. The Virginians replied, that the 
Indians might invade Virginia without passing within a hundred 
miles of those forts, and the contribution was refused. In De- 
cember, William Byrd succeeded Colonel Nathaniel Bacon, Sr., 
as auditor of the accounts of his majesty's revenue in Virginia; 
he continued to hold that place for seventeen years. His MS. 
accounts are still preserved. 

James the Second, influenced by the counsels and the gold of 
France, and in violation of the most solemn pledges made to the 
parliament when he ascended the throne, showed himself incor- 
rigibly bent upon introducing absolute government and establish- 
ing the Roman Catholic religion in England. In Virginia the 
council displayed, as usual, servility to power. Upon the dissolu- 
tion of the assembly, the colony was agitated with apprehensions 
and alarm. Rumors were circulated of terrible plots, now of the 
Papists, then of the Indians. The County of Stafford was in- 
flamed by the bold harangues of John Waugh, a preacher of the 
established church, and three councillors were dispatched to allay 



842 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

the commotions. Part of Rappahannock County was in arms. 
Colonel John Scarburgh, of the Eastern Shore, was prosecuted 
for saying to the governor that "his majesty King James would 
wear out the Church of England, for that when there were any 
vacant offices he supplied them with men of a different persua- 
sion." Scarburgh was discharged by the council. Others were 
prosecuted and imprisoned; and James Collins was put in irons 
for treasonable words uttered against the king. 

Effingham, no less avaricious and unscrupulous than his prede- 
cessor Culpepper, by his extortions and usurpations aroused a 
general spirit of indignation. He prorogued and dissolved the 
assembly ; he erected a new court of chancery, making himself a 
petty lord chancellor; he multiplied fees, and stooped to share 
them with the clerks, and silenced the victims of his extortions 
by arbitrary imprisonment. The house of burgesses, preparing 
to petition the king against the new invention of a seal, by which 
his lordship extracted from the country one hundred thousand 
pounds of tobacco per annum of extraordinary fees and perquisites, 
and the governor getting wind of it, sent for them, and they, 
knowing that his object was to dissolve them, completed the peti- 
tion, signed it, and ordered their clerk and one of their members 
to transmit it to Whitehall for the king. But instead of being 
delivered to his majesty, the original petition was sent back from 
England to the governor, with an account of the manner in which 
it had been transmitted. In consequence whereof, Colonel Thomas 
Milner, being a surveyor and clerk of the house, was removed 
from those offices, and the burgess being a lawyer, was prohibited 
from practising at the bar.* 

At length, the complaints of the Virginians having reached 
England, Effingham embarked, in 1688, for that country, and 
the assembly dispatched Colonel Ludwell to lay their grievances 
before the government; but before they reached the mother 
country, the revolution had taken place, and James the Secondf 
had closed a short and inglorious reign, spent in preposterous 
invasions of civil and religious liberty, by abdicating the crown. 

* Account of Virginia, in Mass. Hist. Coll., fir3t series, 
-j- Chalmers' Annals, 347. 



CHAPTER XLIL 

1688-1696. 

Accession of William and Mary — Proclaimed in Virginia — The House of Stuart — 
President Bacon — Colonel Francis Nicholson, Lieutenant-Governor — The Rev. 
James Blair, Commissary — College of William and Mary chartered — Its En- 
dowment, Objects, Professorships — Death of John Page — Nicholson succeeded 
by Andros — Post-office — Death of Queen Mary — William the Third — Board of 
Trade. 

William, Prince of Orange, landed at Torbay in November, 
1688, and he and Mary were proclaimed king and queen on the 
13th day of February, 1689. The coronation took place on the 
eleventh day of April. They had been for several months seated 
on the throne before they were proclaimed in Virginia. The 
delay was owing to the reiterated pledges of fealty made by the 
council to James, and from an apprehension that he might be 
restored to the kingdom. Some of the Virginians insisted that, 
as there was no king in England, so there was also an interregnum 
in the government of the colony. At length, in compliance with 
the repeated commands of the privy council, William and Mary 
were proclaimed, at James City, in April, 1689, Lord and Lady 
of Virginia. This glorious event, with the circumstances con- 
nected with it, was duly announced to the lords commissioners of 
plantations, in a letter, dated on the twenty-ninth of that month, 
by Nicholas Spencer, secretary of state. 

The accession of the Prince of Orange dispelled the clouds of 
discontent and alarm, and inspired the people of the colony with 
sincere joy. For about seventy years Virginia had been subject 
to the house of Stuart, and there was little in the retrospect to 
awaken regret at their downfall. They had cramped trade by 
monopolies and restrictions, lavished vast bodies of land on their 
profligate minions, and often entrusted the reigns of power to in- 
competent, corrupt, and tyrannical governors. The dynasty of 
the Stuarts fell buried in the ruins of misused power. 

When the last of the Stuart governors, Lord Howard of Effing- 

(343) 



344 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

ham, returned to England, lie had left the administration in the 
hands of Colonel Nathaniel Bacon, Sr., president of the council. 
Upon the accession of William and Mary, England being on the 
eve of a war with France, the president and council of Virginia 
were directed by the Duke of Shrewsbury to put the colony in a 
posture of defence. 

Colonel Philip Ludwell, who had been sent out as an agent of 
the colony to prefer complaints against Lord Howard of Effing- 
ham before the privy council, now at length obtained a decision 
in some points rather favorable to the colony, but the question of 
prerogative was determined in favor of the crown, and it was de- 
clared that an act of 1680 ivas revived by the king's disallowing 
the act of repeal. 

Bacon's administration was short; he had now obtained an 
advanced age. In his time the project of a college was re- 
newed, but not carried into effect. President Bacon resided in 
York County. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard 
Kingsmill, Esq., of James City County. Leaving no issue, by 
his will he bequeathed his estates to his niece, Abigail Burwell, 
and his "riding horse, Watt, to Lady Berkley," at that time 
wife of Colonel Philip Ludwell. President Bacon died on the 
16th of March, 1692, in the seventy-third year of his age, and 
lies buries on King's Creek,* as does also Elizabeth, his wife, 
who died in the year 1691, aged sixty-seven. f The name of the 
wife of Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., was likewise Elizabeth. 

In the year 1690 Lord Effingham, reluctant to revisit a province 
where he was so unacceptable, being still absent from Virginia 
on the plea of ill health, Francis Nicholson, who had been driven 
from New York by a popular outbreak, came over as lieutenant- 
governor. He found the colony ready for revolt. The people 
were indignant at seeing Effingham still retained in the office of 
governor-in-chief, believing that Nicholson would become his tool. 
The revolution in England seemed as yet productive of no amend- 
ment in the colonial administration. Nicholson, however, now 

* James City Records, cited in "Farmer's Register" for 1839, p. 407. 

j- Dr. Williamson, of Williamsburg, obligingly sent me the inscription and the 
coat of arms, as copied by him from her tombstone, which was ploughed up 
on the banks of Queen's Creek. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 345 

courted popularity ; he instituted athletic games, and offered prizes 
to those who should excel in riding, running, shooting, wrestling, 
and fencing. The last alone could need any encouragement in 
such a country as Virginia. He proposed the establishment of a 
post-office, and recommended the erection of a college, but refused 
to call an assembly to further the scheme, being under obliga- 
tions to Effingham to stave off assemblies as long as possible, for 
fear of complaints being renewed against his arbitrary adminis- 
tration.* Nevertheless, Nicholson and the council headed a pri- 
vate subscription, and twenty-five hundred pounds were raised, 
part of this sum being contributed by some London merchants. 
The new governor made a progress through the colony, mingling 
freely with the people, and he carried his indulgence to the com- 
mon people so far as frequently to suffer them to enter the room 
where he was entertaining company at dinner, and diverted him- 
self with their scrambling among one another and carrying off 
the viands from the table — like Sancho Panza's on the Island of 
Barataria. There is but one step from the courtier to the dema- 
gogue. 

Virginia felt the embarrassments which war had brought upon 
England, and acts were passed for encouraging domestic manu- 
factures, for which Nicholson found an apology in the scanty 
supplies imported. The assembly congratulated the Prince of 
Orange on his accession, and thanking him for his present of 
warlike stores, begged for further favors of the royal bounty. 

When Colonel Nicholson entered on the duties of governor, the 
Rev. James Blair, a native of Scotland, newly appointed commis- 
sary of Virginia, assumed the supervision of the churches of the 
colony. He came over to this country in 1685, and settled in 
the County of Henrico, where he remained till 1694, when he 
removed to Jamestown. The functions of commissary, who was 
a deputy of the Bishop of London, had been previously discharged 
by the Rev. Mr. Temple, but he was not regularly commissioned. 

At the instance of the Rev. Mr. Blair, in 1691 the assembly 
entered heartily into the scheme of a college, and in the same 
year he was dispatched with an address to their majesties, King 
William and Queen Mary, soliciting a charter. 

* Beverley, B. i. 92. 



346 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

The first assembly under the new dynasty met at James City, 
in April, 1691, being the third year of their reign. Acts were 
passed for putting the colony in a better state of defence, for re- 
ducing the poll tax, and laying a duty on liquors, and for appoint- 
ing a treasurer. Colonel Edward Hill was appointed to that 
office. The same assembly met again by prorogation, in April 
of the ensuing year. 

Commissary Blair was graciously received at court, and in 
February, 1692, their majesties granted the charter.* The college 
was named in honor of their majesties. The king gave about 
two thousand pounds toward the building, out of the quit-rents. 
Seymour, the English attorney-general, having received the royal 
commands to prepare the charter of the college, which was to be 
accompanied with a grant of money, remonstrated against this 
liberality, urging that the nation was engaged in an expensive 
war; that the money was wanted for better purposes, and that he 
did not see the slightest occasion for a college in Virginia. The 
Rev. Mr. Blair, in reply, represented to him that its intention 
was to educate and qualify young men to be ministers of the 
gospel; and begged Mr. Attorney would consider that the people 
of Virginia had souls to be saved as well as the people of Eng- 
land. "Souls!" exclaimed the imperious Seymour; "damn your 
souls! — make tobacco. "f 

The site selected for the college was in the Middle Plantation 
Old Fields, near the church. The college was endowed by the 
crown with twenty thousand acres of land in Pamunkey Neck, 
and on the south side of Blackwater Swamp; the patronage of 
the office of surveyor-general ; together with the revenue arising 
from a duty of one penny a pound on all tobacco exported from 
Virginia and Maryland to the other plantations, the nett pro- 



* The following gentlemen, nominated by the assembly, were constituted a 
senate, or board of trustees : Francis Nicholson, lieutenant-governor of the 
colony ; William Cole, Ralph Wormley, William Byrd, Esquires, of the council ; 
John Leare, James Blair, John Farnifold, Stephen Fauce, and Samuel Gray, 
clerks (clergymen;) Thomas Milner, Christopher Robinson, Charles Scarburgh, 
John Smith, Benjamin Harrison, Miles Gary, Henry Hartwell, William Ran- 
dolph, and Matthew Page, gentlemen and burgesses. 

f Franklin's Correspondence. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 347 

ceeds being two hundred pounds. The college was also allowed 
to return a burgess to the assembly. The assembly afterwards 
added to the revenue a duty on skins and furs.* Dr. Blair was 
the first president of the college, being appointed under the char- 
ter to hold the office for life. The plan of the building was the 
composition of Sir Christopher Wren. The objects proposed by 
the establishment of the college were declared to be the furnish- 
ing of a seminary for the ministers of the gospel, and that the 
youth may be piously educated in good letters and manners, and 
that the Christian faith should be propagated among the Western 
Indians. f In addition to the five professorships of Greek and 
Latin, the mathematics, moral philosophy, and two of divinity 
provided for by the charter, a sixth, called the Brafferton, from 
an estate in England which secured the endowment, had been 
annexed by the celebrated Robert Boyle, for the instruction and 
conversion of the Indians. 

The trustees met with many difficulties in their undertaking 
during the administration of Governor Andros, and were in- 
volved in a troublesome controversy concerning the lands appro- 
priated to the institution, with Secretary Wormley, the most 
influential man in the colony, next to the governor. 

In January, 1692, died John Page, of Roscwell, of the king's 
council in the colony, aged sixty — a learned and pious man ; first 
of the name in Virginia, and father of the Honorable Colonel 
Matthew Page, who was also of the council. A religious work, 
entitled "A Deed of Gift for my Son," by this John Page, has 
been published. 

During the same year Governor Nicholson was succeeded by 
Sir Edmund Andros, whose high-handed course had rendered him 
so odious to the people of New England that they had lately 
imprisoned him. He was, nevertheless, kindly received by the 
Virginians, whose solicitations to King William for warlike stores 
he had promoted. He soon gave offence by ordering ships to 
cruise against vessels engaged in contraband trade. In the year 
1693 an act was passed for the organizing of a post-office esta- 



* Hening, iii. 123, 241, 356: Catalogue of William and Mary College. 

■|- Anderson's Hist, of Church of England in the Colonies, second ed., iii. 108. 



348 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

blishment in Virginia, to consist of a central office, and a sub- 
office in each county, fixing the rates of postage to be paid to 
Thomas Neale, Esq., who was authorized by an act of parliament 
to establish post-offices in the colonies. The postage on a letter 
consisting of one sheet, for a distance not exceeding eighty miles, 
was three pence. Four companies of rangers protected the fron- 
tiers, while English frigates guarded the coast; and the colony 
enjoyed a long repose. 

The amiable and excellent Queen Mary died on the 28th day 
of December, 1694; and the king now assumed the title of Wil- 
liam the Third. Since the dissolution of the Virginia Company, 
the superintendence of the colonies had been entrusted to a com- 
mittee of the privy council; in 1696 the board of trade was 
established for that purpose. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

1696-1698. 

State and Condition of Virginia — Exhausting Agriculture — Depression of Me- 
chanic Art — Merchants — Current Coin — Grants of Land — Powers of Governor 
— The Council — Court of Claims — County Courts — General Court — Secretary, 
Sheriffs, Collectors, and Vestries — Revenue — The Church. 

The following statistical account of Virginia appears to have 
been reported by Lord Culpepper, in 1781, to the Committee of 
the colonies. It is to be found in the Historical Collections of 
Massachusetts,* the manuscript having been communicated by 
Carter B. Harrison, Esq., of Virginia, by the hands of the Rev. 
John Jones Spooner, corresponding member. The picture is 
harsh, but drawn by a vigorous hand, without fear, favor, or 
affection. 

In point of natural advantages Virginia was surpassed by few 
countries on the globe, but in commerce, manufactures, education, 
government in church and state, was one of the poorest and most 
miserable. The staple tobacco swallowed up every thing, so that 
the markets were often glutted with bad tobacco, which became 
a mere drug, and would not pay freight and customs. Perhaps not 
one hundredth part of the land was yet cleared, and none of the 
marsh or swamp drained. As fast as the soil was worn out by 
exhausting crops of tobacco and corn, it was left to grow up 
again in woods. The plough was not much used, in the first 
clearing the roots and stumps being left, and the ground tilled 
only with hoes, and by the time the stumps were decayed the 
ground was worn out. Manure was neglected. Of grain the 
planters usually raised only enough for home consumption, there 
being no market for it, and scarce any money. But their main 
labor in this crop being in the summer, they fell into habits of 



* First Series, v. 124. 

(349) 



350 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

indolence for the rest of the year. The circumstances of the 
country, destitute of towns, and consisting of dispersed planta- 
tions, were unfavorable for mechanics, then called tradesmen. 
The depression of this useful and important class although les- 
sened, continues in the present day, and appears to be inevitably 
connected with the system of negro slavery. It is a tax paid by 
the whites for the elevation of the black race. The merchants 
were the most prosperous class in the colony, but they labored 
under great disadvantages, being obliged to sell on credit, and to 
carry on "a pitiful retail trade," and to depend on the receivers 
who went about among the planters to receive the tobacco due, 
and this mode of collecting was subject to great delays and losses. 
The native-born Virginians, who for the most part had never 
been out of the colony, were averse to town life, and felt dissatis- 
fied, like Daniel Boone in more modern times, whenever "the 
settlements became too thick." The scarcity of money was 
aggravated by the governor, who found it to his interest to be 
paid in tobacco. The current coin of the dominion of Virginia 
consisted of pieces of eight, the value of which was fixed by law 
at five shillings ; and the value being made greater in Pennsyl- 
vania money, they were consequently drained from Virginia, as 
at the present day gold and silver are ostracised by a depreciated 
paper currency. 

The method of settling the colonial territory was by the king's 
grant of fifty acres to every actual settler, but this rule was evaded 
and perverted in various ways, and rights for that quantity of 
land could easily be purchased from the clerks in the secretary's 
office at from one to five shillings each. The powers of the gover- 
nor were extensive; he was a sort of viceroy, being commander- 
in-chief and vice-admiral, lord treasurer in issuing warrants for 
the paying of moneys, lord chancellor or lord keeper as passing 
grants under the colony's seal, president of the council, chief jus- 
tice of the courts, with some powers of a bishop or ordinary. 
The governors managed to evade the king's instructions, and by 
official patronage to silence the opposition of the council, and 
even to hold the burgesses in check. The governor and coun- 
cillors were all colonels and honorable, and their adherents mono- 
polized the offices. The governor's salary was for many years 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 351 

one thousand pounds per annum, to which the assembly added 
perquisites, amounting to five hundred more, and a further addi- 
tion of two hundred pounds was made to Sir William Berkley's 
salary, making the whole salary seventeen hundred pounds. 
The council, in effect the creatures and clients of the governor, 
being appointed at his nomination, and receiving office and place 
from him, had the powers of council of state, (in case of vacancy 
of the governor the oldest of them ex officio acting as president 
ad interim,) of upper house of assembly or house of lords, in the 
general court of supreme judges, and as colonels, answering to 
the English lord-lieutenants of counties. The councillors were 
also naval officers in the customs department, collectors of the 
revenue, farmers of the king's quit-rents ; out of the council were 
chosen the secretary, auditor, and escheators; the councillors 
were exempt from arrests, and had a compensation of three 
hundred and fifty pounds divided among them, according to 
their attendance. They met together after the manner of the 
king and council. Their clerk received fifty pounds per annum 
salary, besides perquisites. The office of collector, held by mem- 
bers of the council, was indeed incompatible with their office of 
judge, and their office of councillor unfitted them for auditing 
their own accounts as collectors, and in different capacities they 
both bought and sold the royal quit-rents.* 

Upon the election of burgesses there was commonly held a 
court, called a court of claims, where all who had any claims 



* The council, in the time of Governor Andros, consisted of Ralph Wormley, 
collector and naval officer of Rappahannock River ; Colonel Richard Lee, collec- 
tor and naval officer of upper district of Potomac River — these two having been 
appointed while Sir William Berkley was governor; Colonel William Byrd, who 
was appointed auditor during Lord Culpepper's administration ; Colonel Chris- 
topher Wormley, collector and naval officer of the lower district of the Potomac 
River, appointed while Lord Effingham was governor ; Colonel Edward Hill, 
collector and naval officer of upper district of James River; Colonel Edmund 
Jennings, collector and naval officer of York River — these two being appointed 
in Lord Effingham's time ; Colonel Daniel Parke, collector and naval officer of 
the lower district of James River, and escheator between York and Rappahan- 
nock Rivers; Colonel Charles Scarburgh, collector and naval officer on the 
Eastern Shore, and Mr. John Lightfoot, who had lately arrived in the country — 
these last four appointed while Sir Edmund Andros was governor. 



352 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

against the public might present them to the burgesses, together 
with any propositions or grievances, "all which the burgesses 
carry to the assembly." There was at that early day much con- 
fusion in the laws, and it was difficult to know what laws were in 
force and what were not. All causes were decided in the county 
court or in the general court. The county court consisted of 
eight or ten gentlemen, receiving their commission from the 
governor, who renewed it annually. They met once a month, or 
once in two months, and had cognizance of all causes exceeding 
in value twenty shillings, or two hundred pounds of tobacco. 
These country gentlemen, having no education in law, not unfre- 
quently fell into mistakes in substance and in form. The insuffi- 
ciency of these courts was now growing more apparent than 
formerly, since the old stock of gentry, who were educated in 
England, were better acquainted with law and with the business 
of the world than their sons and grandsons, who were brought up 
in Virginia, and commonly knew only reading, writing, and arith- 
metic, and were not very proficient in them. 

The general court, so called because it had jurisdiction of 
causes from all parts of the colony, was held twice a year, in 
April and October, by the governor and council as judges, at 
Jamestown. This court was never commissioned, but grew up 
by custom or usurpation ; from it there was no appeal, except in 
cases of over three hundred pounds sterling value, to the king, 
which was for most persons impracticable, on account of the dis- 
tance and the expensiveness. Virginia appears to have been the 
only colony where the executive constituted the supreme court. 
The general court tried all causes of above sixteen pounds ster- 
ling, or sixteen hundred pounds of tobacco in value, and all 
appeals from the county courts, and it had cognizance of all 
causes in chancery, in king's bench, the common pleas, the ex- 
chequer, the admiralty, and spirituality. The forms of proceed- 
ing in the general court were quite irregular. The duties of the 
secretary were as multifarious as those of the governor; it was, 
however, for the most part a sinecure, the business being per- 
formed by a clerk, styled the clerk of the general court, who also 
employed one or two clerks under him. The secretary, who was 
properly the clerk of the court, yet sate as judge of that court. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 353 

The governor signed all patents or deeds of land, and there was 
a recital in them that he granted the land "by and with the 
consent of the council," yet the patents were never read by the 
governor, nor did the council take any notice of them. He like- 
wise countersigned the patents after the words "compared, and 
agrees with the original," yet the secretary never read or com- 
pared them, and indeed the patent which he signed was itself the 
original. "Men make laws, but we live by custom." The 
sheriffs collected all money duties. The auditor audited the ac- 
counts of the collectors, and was receiver-general of all public 
moneys. The parish levy, for the support of the church and of 
the poor, was assessed by the vestry, about the month of Oc- 
tober, when tobacco was ready; the whole amount assessed was 
divided by the number of tithables of the parish, and collected 
from the heads of families. The county levy for county ex- 
penses was assessed by the justices of the peace, and the sum 
divided by the number of tithables in the county. The public 
levy was assessed by the assembly for the general expenses of 
the colony, and the sum was divided by the number of tithables 
in the colony, amounting in the year 1690 to about twenty 
thousand. The three levies were all collected by the sheriffs; 
they averaged about one hundred pounds of tobacco for each 
tithable, the aggregate amounting to two millions of pounds per 
annum. 

The revenues and customs that came into the auditor's hands 
were of four kinds: First, the quit-rents, being one shilling per 
annum on every fifty acres of land, payable in tobacco, at one 
penny per pound, or twenty-four pounds of tobacco for every 
hundred acres. In the Northern Neck, lying between the Poto- V 
mac and Rappahannock, the quit-rents were paid by the heirs of 
Lord Culpepper. The tobacco due for quit-rents was sold by the 
auditor to the several members of the council, who paid for it in 
money, or bills of exchange, according to the quantity. The 
quit-rent revenue amounted to about eight hundred pounds ster- 
ling per annum. The second source of revenue consisted of two 
shillings per hogshead, export duty, on tobacco, and fort duties, 
being fifteen pence per ton on all vessels arriving. These 
amounted to three thousand pounds sterling per annum. Ten 

23 



354 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

per cent, of this amount was paid to masters of vessels, to induce 
them to give a true account. The collectors received ten per 
cent, for collecting, and the auditor seven per cent. The third 
source of revenue was one penny per pound upon tobacco ex- 
ported from Virginia to any other English plantation in America. 
This, as has been mentioned, was, in 1692, granted to the college 
of William and Mary. The college paid for collecting it no less 
than twenty per cent., and to the auditor five per cent. The 
nett proceeds were worth one hundred pounds annually. The 
fourth source of revenue was any money duty that might be raised 
by the assembly. 

The governor was lieutenant-general, the councillors lieutenants 
of counties, with the title of colonel, and in counties where no 
councillor resided, some other person was appointed, with the 
rank of major. The people in general professed to be of the 
Church of England. The only dissenters were three or four 
meetings of Quakers and one of Presbyterians. There were fifty 
parishes, and in each two, and sometimes three, churches and 
chapels. The division of the parishes was unequal and incon- 
venient. The governor had always held the government of the 
church, as of everything else, in his hands. Ministers were 
obliged to produce their orders to him, and show that they had 
been episcopally ordained. The power of presentation was, by a 
colonial law, in the vestry, but by a custom of hiring preachers 
by the year, it came to pass that presentation rarely took place. 
The consequence was that a good minister either would not come 
to Virginia, or if he did, was soon driven away by the high- 
handed proceedings of the vestry. The minister was obliged to 
be careful how he preached against the vices that any great man 
of the vestry was guilty of, else he would be in danger of losing 
his living at the end of the year. They held them by a preca- 
rious tenure, like that of chaplains; they were mere tenants at 
sufferance. There were not half as many ministers in Virginia 
as parishes. The governor connived at this state of things. 
The minister's salary was sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco 
per annum. King Charles the Second gave the Bishop of 
London jurisdiction over the church in the plantations, in all 
matters except three, viz. : marriage licenses, probates of wills, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 355 

and induction of ministers, which were reserved to the gover- 
nor. The bishop's commissary made visitation of the churches 
and inspection of the clergy. He received no salary, but was 
allowed, by the king, one hundred pounds per annum out of the 
quit-rents.* 



* Account of Va., in Mass. Hist. Coll., first series. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 
leos-iT-os. 

Administration of Andros — Controversy with Blair — The Rev. Hugo Jones' 
Account of Ma- 1 "nl — Andros succeeded by Nicholson — Alteration in his 
Conduct — Supposed Clause — Williamsburg made the Seat of Government — 
His tyrannical Proceedings — Prejudice of Beverley, the Historian — Act against 
Pirates — Offices of Speaker and Treasurer combined — Capture of a piratical 
Vessel — Death of Edward Hill — Commencement at AVilliam and Mary — Demise 
of AVilliam the Third — Succeeded by Anne — Nicholson's Description of the 
People of Virginia. 

Governor Andros took singular pains in arranging and pre- 
serving the public records; and when, in 1698, the State-house 
was burned, he caused the papers that survived to be arranged 
with more exactness than before. He ordered that all the Eno-- 
lish statutes should be law in Virginia; this preposterous rule 
gave great dissatisfaction. He was a patron of manufactures; 
but the acts for establishing fulling-mills were rejected by the 
board of trade. He encouraged the culture of cotton, which, 
however, fell into disuse. 

By royal instructions, Andros was invested with the powers of 
ordinary, or representative of the king and the bishop of London, 
in the affairs of the church. This brought him into collision with 
Commissary Blair, and in 1694 the governor arbitrarily sus- 
pended him from his place in the council, to which he had been 
appointed in the preceding year. While in England on the busi- 
ness of the college, in 1695, the doctor preferred charges against 
Andros as an enemy to religion, to the church, the clergy, and the 
college. The charges and the proofs covered thirty-two folio 
pages of manuscript, and were drawn up with ability. But Blair 
had to contend with formidable opposition, for Governor Andros 
sent over to London, in his defence, Colonel Byrd, of Westover, 
Mr. Harrison, of Surry County, Mr. Povey, who was high in 
office in the colony, and a Mr. Marshall, to arraign the Rev. 
(356) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIKGINIA. 357 

Commissary himself before the Bishop of London and the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury. Two days were spent at Lambeth Palace, 
in the examination, the charges and answers filling fifty-seven 
folio pages of manuscript, and Dr. Blair's accusers were signally 
discomfited. Much of the prejudice against him was owing to 
his being a Scotchman — a prejudice at that time running very 
high in England. The result was that Blair returned after suc- 
cessfully accomplishing the object of his mission, and having 
been reinstated in the council by the king. He was, neverthe- 
less, again removed upon a pretence equally frivolous.* Andros 
was sent back to England to answer in person the charges alleged 
against him, and eventually, they being substantiated, he was 
removed from his office of deputy governor of Virginia, f 

William the Third, by the treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, ob- 
tained an acknowledgment of his right to the crown, and vindi- 
cated the principles of constitutional freedom. 

The Rev. Hugo Jones, author of a work entitled "Present 
State of Virginia," writing from Maryland in this year, says of 
the people there : " They are, generally speaking, crafty, knav- 
ish, litigious, dissemblers, and debauched. A gentleman (I mean 
one of a generous Cambro-Briton temper) is rara avis in terris. 
A man must be circumspect and prudent if he will maintain his 
reputation among them. Of dealing, it is very true what was 
told me by a man at London, that none is fit to deal with a Vir- 
ginian but a Virginian ; however, I having made it my business 
both in London and at sea to inquire into the nature of the peo- 
ple, that I might know the better how to behave myself among 
them, have gained as good a reputation as in modesty I could ex- 
pect; neither have I been much imposed upon in my bargains. 
As to the people's disposition in matters of religion, they will 
follow none out of the path of interest, and they heartily em- 
brace, none but such as will fill the barn and the basket. Most 
sects are here professed, but in general they are practical 
atheists."^ 



* Account of Va. in Mass. Hist. Coll., first series, v. 144. 
j- Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Virginia, i. 157. 
I European Magazine, 1796. 



358 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

The uncharitable judgments of this narrow-minded writer are 
not entitled to much weight. Among a people requiring so much 
ministerial care, he found ample time to devote to the study of 
natural history, and was curious in the examination of "fishes' 
bones" and "petrified mushrooms." 

In the year 1698 died Thomas Ludwell, Esq., some time secre- 
tary of Virginia. He was born at Bruton, County Somerset, 
England. Sir Edmund Andros was succeeded in November, 
1698, by Colonel Nicholson, transferred from the government of 
Maryland. He entertained a plan of confederating the colonies 
together, and aspired to become himself the viceroy of the con- 
templated union. Finding himself thwarted in these projects, 
his conduct became self-willed and overbearing. In a memorial 
sent to England, he stated that tobacco bore so low a price as 
not to yield even clothes to the planters ; yet, in the same paper, 
advised parliament to prohibit the plantations from making their 
own clothing; in other words, proposing that they should be left 
to go naked.* Indeed, he appeared to be quite altered from 
what he had been during his former administration in Virginia; 
and the change was thought to be not a little owing to a disap- 
pointment in love. He had become passionately attached to a 
daughter of Lewis Burwell, Jr., and failing to win her favor or 
that of her parents, in his suit, he became infuriated, and per- 
sisted, Quixotically, for years in his fruitless purpose. The 
young lady's father, and her brothers, and Commissary Blair, 
and the Rev. Mr. Fouace, minister of the parish, were especial 
objects of his vengeance. To the young lady he threatened the 
death of her father arid her brothers, if she did not yield to his 
suit. He committed other outrages no less extraordinary. 

For the sake of a healthier situation, Governor Nicholson re- 
moved the seat of government from Jamestown, now containing 
only three or four good inhabited houses, to Middle Plantation, 
so called from its lying midway between James and York Rivers. 
Here he projected a large town, laying out the streets in the form 
of a W and M, in honor of King William and Queen Mary. 
This plan, however, appears to have been abandoned, or only 

* 
* Beverley, B. i. 98. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 859 

partially carried out.* According to the contemporary histo- 
rian Beverley, Nicholson declared openly to the lower order of 
people "that the gentlemen imposed upon them; that the ser- 
vants had all been kidnapped, and had a lawful action against 
their masters." In the year 1700 Mr. Fowler, the king's attor- 
ney-general for the colony, declaring some piece of service 
against law, the governor seized him by the collar, and swore 
" that he knew no laws they had, and that his commands should 
be obeyed without hesitation or reserve." He committed gentle- 
men who offended him to prison without any complaint, and re- 
fused to allow bail; and some of them having intimated to him 
that such proceedings were illegal, he replied, "that they had no 
right at all to the liberties of English subjects, and that he 
would hang up those that should presume to oppose him, with 
magna charta about their necks." He often extolled the govern- 
ments of Fez and Morocco, and at a meeting of the governors 
of the college, told them "that he knew how to govern the 
Moors, and would beat them into better manners." At another 
time he avowed that he knew how to govern the country without 
assemblies, and if they should deny him anything after he had 
obtained a sending army, "he would bring them to reason with 
halters about tfceir necks." His outrages made him jealous, and 
to prevent complaints being sent to England against him, he is 
said to have intercepted letters, employed spies, and even played 
the eavesdropper himself. He sometimes held inquisitorial courts 
to find grounds of accusation against such as incurred his dis- 
pleasure, f 

Robert Beverley, author of a "History of Virginia," pub- 
lished the first edition of it in 1705. He was a son of Robert 
Beverley, the persecuted clerk, who died in 1687. This may 
account somewhat for his extreme acrimony against Culpepper 
and Effingham, who had persecuted his father, and against 
Nicholson, who was Effingham's deputy. In his second edition, 
when time had, perhaps, mitigated his animosities, Beverley 



* Hugh Jones' Present State of Virginia; Beverley, B. L 99; Va. Hist. Reg., 
vi. 15. 
f Beverley, B. i. 97. 



3G0 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

omitted many of his accusations against these governors. In 
favor of Nicholson, it is also to be observed, that his adminis- 
tration in Maryland and in South Carolina was more satisfac- 
tory. But it is certain that he was an erratic, Quixotic, irascible 
man, who could not bear opposition, and an extreme high 
churchman. 

In the eleventh year of William the Third an act was passed 
for the restraining and punishing of pirates and privateers, the 
preamble reciting that "nothing can more conduce to the honor 
of his most sacred majesty than that such articles of peace as 
are concluded in all treaties should be kept and preserved in- 
violable by his majesty's subjects in and over all his majesty's 
territories and dominions, and that great mischief and depreda- 
tions are daily done upon the high seas by pirates, privateers, 
and sea-robbers, in not only taking and pillaging several ships 
and vessels belonging to his majesty's subjects, but also in 
taking, destroying, and robbing several ships belonging to the 
subjects of foreign princes, in league and amity with his ma- 
jesty;" and they prayed that crimes .committed on the high seas 
should be punished as if committed on land, in Virginia.* A 
committee was appointed during the same session "to revise the 
laws of this his majesty's ancient and great colony and dominion 
of Virginia, "f 

Among the subjects upon which a tax was laid for the building 
of a capitol, were servants imported, not being natives of Eng- 
land or Wales, fifteen shillings per poll, and twenty shillings on 
every negro or other slave. Colonel Robert Carter, speaker of / 
the house, was elected to fill the office of treasurer; and it came 
to be the custom for the two offices of speaker and treasurer to 
be held by the same person. The establishment of the office of 
a treasurer appointed by the assembly, giving that body control 
of the colonial purse, added much to the independence of its 
legislative power. 

* Hening, iii. 177. 

f The members of it were Edward Hill, Matthew Page, and Benjamin Harri- 
son, Esquires, members of the council; and Miles Cary, John Taylor, Robert 
Beverley, Anthony Armistead, Henry Duke, and William Buckner, gentlemen of 
the house of burgesses. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 361 

In the second year of Nicholson's administration a piratical 
vessel was captured within the capes of Virginia. She had taken 
some merchant-vessels in Lynhaven Bay, and a small vessel hap- 
pening to witness an engagement between her and a merchant- 
man, conveyed intelligence of it to the Shoram, a fifth-rate man- 
of-war, commanded by Captain Passenger, and newly arrived. 
Nicholson chanced to be at Kiquotan sealing up his letters, and, 
going on board the Shoram, was present in the engagement that 
followed. The Shoram, by daybreak, having got in between the 
capes and the pirate, intercepted her, and an action took place 
on the 29th of April, 1700, when the pirate surrendered upon 
condition of being referred to the king's mercy. In this affair 
fell Peter Heyman, grandson of Sir Peter Hey man, of Summer- 
field, in the County of Kent, England. Being collector of the 
customs in the lower district of James River, he volunteered to 
go on board the Shoram, and after behaving with undaunted 
courage, standing on the quarter-deck near the governor, was 
killed by a small shot. 

During this year died the Honorable Colonel Edward Hill, of 
Shirley, on the James River, in the sixty-third year of his age; 
he was of the council, colonel and commander-in-chief of the 
Counties of Charles City and Surry, judge of his majesty's high 
court of admiralty, and some time treasurer of Virginia. He lies 
buried at Shirley, and a portrait of him and his wife is preserved 
there. 

In the year preceding this, Protestant dissenters, qualified ac- 
cording to the toleration act of the first year of William and Mary, 
were exempted from penalties for not repairing to the parish 
church, if they attended some legal place of worship once in two 
months.* The press was not yet free in Virginia, and the writ 
of habeas corpus was still withheld. 

There was a commencement at William and Mary College in 
the year 1700, at which there was a great concourse of people; 
several planters came thither in coaches, and others in sloops 
from New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, it being a new 
thing in that part of America to hear graduates perform their 

* Heuing, iii. 171. 



\r 



362 



HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 



exercises. The Indians themselves had the curiosity, some of 
them, to visit Williamsburg upon that occasion; and the whole 
country rejoiced as if they had some relish of learning. Fifty- 
eight years before this there had been celebrated a commence- 
ment at Harvard College, in Massachusetts.* 

In the year 1701 Colonel Quarry, surveyor-general of the cus- 
toms, wrote to the board of trade: "This malignant humor is 
not confined to Virginia, formerly the most remarkable for 
loyalty, but is universally diffused." 

During the month of March of this year died William the 
Third. His manner was taciturn, reserved, haughty; his genius 
military; his decision inflexible. In his fondness of prerogative 
he showed himself a grandson of the first Charles; as the de- 
fender of the Protestant religion, and Prince of Orange, he dis- 
played toleration toward all except Papists. The government 
of Virginia under him was not materially improved. He was 
succeeded by Anne, daughter of James the Second. Louis the 
Fourteenth having recognized the Pretender as lawful heir to the 
British crown, Anne, shortly after she succeeded to the throne, 
in 1702, declared war against France, and its ally Spain; but 
Virginia was not directly affected by the long conflict that en- 
sued. In compliance with the requests of the assembly, the 
queen granted the colony warlike stores, to the value of three 
thousand and three hundred pounds, which the governor was 
directed to pay from the revenue of quit-rents. Her majesty, 
at the same time, renewed the requisition formerly made by the 
crown for an appropriation in aid of the defences of New York; 
but the burgesses still steadily refused. 

During: the reign of William the Third the commerce of Vir- 



* In 1701 the population of the colonies was as follows: — 



Connecticut 30,000 

Maryland 25,000 

Massachusetts, 70,000 

New Hampshire 10,000 

New Jersey 15,000 

New York 30,000 

North Carolina 5,000 



Pennsylvania 20,000 

Rhode Island 10,000 

South Carolina 7,000 

Virginia 40,000 



Total 262,000 



{Compendium of United States Census.) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 363 

ginia had been seriously interrupted, and her customary supplies 
withheld; she, therefore, encouraged the domestic manufacture 
of linen and wool; but an act for the establishment of fulling- 
mills was rejected by the board of trade, as also was one for 
"the better securing the liberty of the subject." Governor 
Nicholson, in a memorial to the council of trade, described the 
people of Virginia as numerous, rich, and of republican princi- 
ples, such as ought to be lowered in time ; that then or never was 
the time to maintain the queen's prerogative, and put a stop to 
those pernicious notions, which were increasing daily, not only in 
Virginia, but in all her majesty's other governments, and that a 
frown from her majesty now would do more than an army there- 
after; and he insisted on the necessity of a standing army.* 

* Beverley, B. i. 104. 



CHAPTER LXV. 



Assembly held in the College — Ceremony of opening the Session — The Gover- 
nor's Speech. 

A meeting of the general assembly was held at her majesty's 
Royal College of William and Mary, in March, 1703, being the 
second year of Queen Anne's reign, and, by prorogation, again in 
April, 1704.* The clerk of the general assembly was ordered 
to wait upon the house of burgesses and inform them that his 
excellency commanded their immediate attendance on him in the 
council chamber. The burgesses having complied with this order, 
his excellency was pleased to let them know that her most sacred 
majesty having been pleased to renew his commission to be her 
majesty's lieutenant and governor-general of this her majesty's 
most ancient and great colony and dominion of Virginia, he 
would cause the said commission to be read to them. This being 
done, he read them that part of his instructions wherein the coun- 
cil are nominated, and informed the house that upon the death 
of Colonel Page, the number of councillors having fallen under 
nine, he had appointed one to supply that vacancy. The gover- 
nor next mentioned to the house that he had commissioned some 
of her majesty's honorable council to administer the oath to the 
burgesses. Whereupon they withdrew, and the oath was admi- 
nistered by the Honorable William Byrd, John Lightfoot, and 
Benjamin Harrison. These gentlemen returning to the council 
chamber, the clerk of the assembly was ordered to wait again 
upon the house of burgesses, and acquaint them that his excel- 
lency commanded their immediate attendance on him. The 

* A meeting of the council was held, consisting of his Excellency Francis 
Nicholson, Esq., lieutenant and governor-general, and William Byrd, John Light- 
foot, Benjamin Harrison, Robert Carter, John Custis, Philip Ludwell, William 
Basset, Henry Duke, Robert Quarry, and John Smith, Esquires. 

(364) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 365 

house of burgesses complying with this order, the governor made 
the following speech: — 

"Honorable Gentlemen, — 

"God Almighty, I hope, will be graciously pleased so to 
direct, guide, and enable us, as that we may, to all intents and 
purposes, answer her majesty's writ by which this assembly was 
called, and by prorogation is now met in this her majesty Queen 
Anne her royal capitol ; which being appointed by law for hold- 
ing general assemblies and general courts, my hopes likewise are 
that they may continue to be held in this place for the promoting 
of God's glory, her majesty, and her successors' interest and ser- 
vice with that of the inhabitants of this her majesty's most an- 
cient and great colony and dominion of Virginia, so long as the 
sun and moon endure. Gentlemen, her most sacred majesty 
having been graciously pleased to send me her royal picture and 
arms for this her colony and dominion, I think the properest 
place to have them kept in, will be this council chamber; but it 
not being as yet quite finished, I cannot have them so placed as I 
would. 

"By private accounts which I have from England, I under- 
stand her majesty hath lately thought fit to appoint a day of 
public fasting and humiliation there ; but I have not yet seen her 
majesty's royal proclamation for it, which makes me not willing 
to appoint one here till I have. And had it not been for this, I 
designed that her majesty's royal picture and arms should have 
been first seen by you on St. George his day, and to have kept 
it as a day of public thanksgiving, it being the day on which her 
majesty was crowned, and bearing the name of his royal high- 
ness the Prince of Denmark, and likewise of the patron of our 
mother kingdom of England. 

"Honorable gentlemen, I don't in the least doubt but that you 
will join with me in paying our most humble and dutiful acknow- 
ledgments and thanks to her most sacred majesty for this great 
honor and favor which she hath been pleased to bestow upon your 
country, and in praying that she may have a long, prosperous, 
successful, and victorious reign, as also that she may in all 
respects not only equal, but even outdo her royal predecessor, 



366 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

Queen Elizabeth, of ever-glorious memory, in the latter end of 
whose reign this country was discovered, and in honor of her 
called Virginia. 

"It is now within two years of a century since its being first 
seated, at which time, if God Almighty and her majesty shall be 
so pleased, I design to celebrate a jubilee, and that the inhabit- 
ants thereof may increase exceedingly, and also abound with 
riches and honors, and have extraordinary good success in all 
their undertakings, but chiefly that they may be exemplary in 
their lives and conversations, continue in their religion of the 
Church of England as by law established, loyal to the crown 
thereof, and that all these things may come to pass, I question 
not but you will most cordially join with me in our most un- 
feigned and hearty prayers to God Almighty for them." 

At the close of this verbose speech, the burgesses returned to 
their house, and the council adjourned.* 

* Documents in S. Literary Messenger, communicated by Wyndham Robert- 
son, Esq., having been copied by his father, while he was clerk of the council, 
from old papers in the council chamber. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 



1?'03-17'05. 



Quit-rents — Northy's Opinion against the Custom of the Vestry's employing a 
Minister by the Year — The Free Church Disruption in Scotland — Controversy 
between Blair and Nicholson — Convocation — Nicholson recalled — Notice of his 
Career — Huguenots. 

By the account of Colonel William Byrd, receiver-general, the 
nett proceeds of her majesty's revenue of quit-rents for the year 
1703 amounted to five thousand seven hundred and forty-five 
pounds. 

In the Church of England the people have no part in the 
choice of their minister ; a patron appoints him, and a living sup- 
ports him. In Virginia, on the contrary, the salary being levied 
directly from the people by the vestries, they fell upon the expe- 
dient, as has been repeatedly mentioned, of employing a minister 
for a year. Governor Nicholson, an extreme high-churchman, 
procured from the attorney-general, Northy, an opinion against 
this custom, and it was sent to all the vestries, with directions to 
put it on record. The vestries, nevertheless, pertinaciously re- 
sisted this construction of the law. In two important points the 
church establishment in Virginia differed from that in England — 
in the appointment of the minister by the vestry, according to 
the act of 1642, and in the absence of a bishop. 

In recent times the disruption of the Scottish general assembly 
resulted in the Free Church of Scotland, which thus, by sacri- 
ficing the temporalities, vindicated its independence of the govern- 
ment in things spiritual. In Virginia the vestries virtually 
maintained a like independence. In Scotland the contest arrayed 
against each other schismatic parties in the established kirk, 
known as the Evangelical and the Moderates, whereas in Vir- 
ginia it was a mere contest for power between the vestries and 
the government. The Free Church of Scotland, at the time of 
the disruption, was still in theory in favor of an establishment in 

(367) 



368 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

■which the clergy should be chosen by the people and paid by the 
government.* Even in England, under the constitution of the 
established church, the ministers of certain exceptional chapels 
were formerly elected by the freeholders of the parish, subject to 
the approval of the vicar, and the violation of their rights in this 
particular was sometimes resented in the ruder districts of York- 
shire, by outrageous insults offered to the new incumbent during 
the time of service, and by brutal personal assaults upon the 
minister.f 

Before the beginning of the eighteenth century the proprietary 
government, granted by Charles the First to Lord Baltimore, had 
at length been abolished, and the Church of England established 
there. There was less tolerance under this establishment than 
before. In Maryland as in Virginia, the discipline of the church 
was loose, the clergy by no means exemplary, and their condition 
precarious and dependent. 

The differences between Dr. Blair and Governor Nicholson led 
to a tedious controversy, in which charges of malfeasance in offi- 
cial duty and private misconduct, especially in the affair of his 
attachment for Miss Burwell, and his maltreatment of the Rev. 
Mr. Fouace, were transmitted to the government in England, 
covering forty-four pages folio of manuscript. The controversy 
produced no little excitement and disturbance in the colony; a 
number of the clergy adhered to the governor, being those with 
whom Commissary Blair was unpopular, and whom the governor 
had ingratiated by siding with them against the vestries, and by 
representing the commissary as less favorable to their cause. 
Governor Nicholson ordered a convocation to be assembled, and 
during its session held private interviews with his adherents 
among the clergy, who signed a paper denying the charges made 
by the commissary and the council. A public entertainment 
given to them was satirized in a ballad, setting forth their un- 
clerical hilarity, and depicting some of them in unfavorable 
colors. This ballad soon appeared in London. In this convo- 
cation seventeen of the clergy were opposed to the commissary, 

* Memoirs of Dr. Chalmers, iv. 287, 316. 
f Mrs. Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Bronte". 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 369 

and only six in his favor. Nevertheless his integrity and in- 
domitable perseverance and energy triumphed; and at length, 
upon the complaint made by him, together with six members of 
the council and some of the clergy, particularly the Rev. Mr. 
Fouace, Colonel Nicholson was recalled.* He ceased to be 
governor in August, 1705. Before entering on the government 
of Virginia he had been lieutenant-governor of New York under 
Andros, and afterwards at the head of administration from 1687 
to 1689, when he was expelled by a popular tumult. From 1690 
to 1692 he was lieutenant-governor of Virginia. From 1694 to 
1699 he held the government of Maryland, where, with the 
zealous assistance of Commissary Bray, he busied himself in 
establishing Episcopacy. Returning to the government of Vir- 
ginia, Governor Nicholson remained until 1705. In the year 1710 
he was appointed general and commander-in-chief of the forces 
sent against Fort Royal, in Acadia, which was surrendered to 
him. During the following year he headed the land force of 
another expedition directed against the French in Canada. The 
naval force on this occasion was commanded by the imbecile 
Brigadier Hill. The enterprise was corrupt in purpose, feeble in 
execution, and abortive in result. This failure was attributable 
to the mismanagement and inefficiency of the fleet. In 1713 
Colonel Nicholson was governor of Nova Scotia. Having re- 
ceived the honor of knighthood in 1720, Sir Francis Nicholson 
was appointed governor of South Carolina, where during four 
years, it is said, he conducted himself with a judicious and spirited 
attention to the public welfare, and this threw a lustre over the 
closing scene of his long and active career in America. Return- 
ing to England, June, 1725, he died at London in March, 1728. 
He is described as an adept in colonial governments, trained by 
long experience in New York, Virginia, and Maryland; brave, 
and not penurious, but narrow and irascible; of loose morality, 
yet a fervent supporter of the church. f 

Upon the revocation of the edict of Nantes, by Louis the Four- 
teenth, in 1685, more than half a million of French Protestants, 
called Huguenots, fled from the jaws of persecution to foreign 

* Old Churches, etc., i. 158; ii. 291. f Bancroft, ii. 82. 

24 



370 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

countries. About forty thousand took refuge in England. 
In 1690 William the Third sent over a number of them to 
Virginia, and lands were allotted to them on James River. 
During the year 1699 another body came over, conducted by 
their clergyman, Claude Philippe de Richebourg. He and others 
were naturalized some years afterwards. Others followed in 
succeeding years; the larger part of them settled at Manakin- 
town, on the south bank of the James River, about twenty miles 
above the falls, on rich lands formerly occupied by the Monacan 
Indians. The rest dispersed themselves over the country, some 
on the James, some on the Rappahannock. The settlement at 
Manakintown was erected into the parish of King William, in the 
County of Henrico, and exempted from taxation for many years. 
The refugees received from the king and the assembly large dona- 
tions of money and provisions; and they found in Colonel Wil- 
liam Byrd, of Westover, a generous benefactor. Each settler 
was allowed a strip of land running back from the river to the 
foot of the hill. Here they raised cattle, undertook to domesti- 
cate the buffalo, manufactured cloth, and made claret wine from 
wild grapes. Their settlement extended about four miles along 
the river. In the centre they built a church; they conducted 
their public worship after the German manner, and repeated 
family worship three times a day. Manakintown was then on the 
frontier of Virginia, and there was no other settlement nearer 
than the falls of the James River, yet the Indians do not appear 
to have ever molested these pious refugees. There was no mill 
nearer than the mouth of Falling Creek, twenty miles distant, 
and the Huguenots, having no horses, were obliged to carry their 
corn on their backs to the mill. 

Many worthy families of Virginia are descended from the 
Huguenots, among them the Maurys, Fontaines, Lacys, Mun- 
fords, Flournoys, Dupuys, Duvalls, Bondurants, Trents, Mon- 
cures, Ligons, and Le Grands. In the year 1714 the aggregate 
population of the Manakintown settlement was three hundred. 
The parish register of a subsequent date, in French, is preserved. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

lT'03-17'08. 

Parishes — The Rev. Francis Makemie — Dissenters — Toleration Act — Ministers — 

Commissary. 

In the year 1702 there were twenty-nine counties in Virginia, 
and forty-nine parishes, of which thirty-four were supplied with 
ministers, fifteen vacant. In each parish there was a church, of 
timber, brick, or stone ; in the larger parishes, one or two Chapels 
of Ease; so that the whole number of places of worship, for a 
population of sixty thousand, was about seventy. In every parish 
a dwelling-house was provided for the minister, with a glebe of 
two hundred and fifty acres of land, and sometimes a few ne- 
groes, or a small stock of cattle. The salary of sixteen thou- 
sand pounds of tobacco was, in ordinary quality, equivalent to 
<£80 ; in sweet-scented, to X160. It required the labor of twelve 
negroes to produce this amount. There were in Virginia, at this 
time, three Quaker congregations, and as many Presbyterian; 
two in Accomac under the care of Rev. Francis Makemie ; the 
other on Elizabeth River. 

The Rev. Francis Makemie, who is styled the father of the 
American Presbyterian Church, was settled in Accomac County 
before the year 1690, when his name first appears upon the 
county records. He appears to have been a native of the north 
of Ireland, being of Scotch extraction, and one of those called 
Scotch-Irish. Licensed by the presbytery of Lagan in 1680, 
and in two or three years ordained as an evangelist for America, 
he came over, and labored in Barbadoes, Maryland, and Virginia. 
The first mention of his name on the records of the county court 
of Accomac bears date in 1690, by which he appears to have 
brought suits for debts due him in the business of merchandise. 
He married Naomi, eldest daughter of William Anderson, a 
wealthy merchant of Accomac, and thus acquired an independent 

(371) 



1 



372 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

estate. In the year 1699 he obtained from the court of that 
county a certificate of qualification as a preacher under the 
toleration act, the first of the kind known to be on record in 
Virginia. At the same time, upon his petition, two houses be- 
longing to him were licensed as places of public worship.* In a 
letter written in 1710 by the presbytery of Philadelphia to that 
of Dublin, it is said : " In all Virginia we have one small congre- 
gation on Elizabeth River, and some few families favoring our 
way in Rappahannock and York." Two years after, the Rev. 
John Macky was the pastor of the Elizabeth River congregation. 
It is probable that the congregations organized by Mr. Makemie, 
in 1690, were not able to give him a very ample support ; but, 
prosperous in his worldly affairs, he appears to have contributed 
liberally from his own means to the promotion of the religious 
interests in which he was engaged. According to tradition, he 
suffered frequent annoyances from the intolerant spirit of the 
times in Virginia; but he declared that "he durst not deny 
preaching, and hoped he never should, while it was wanting and 
desired." Beverley, in his "History of Virginia," published in 
1705, says: "They have no more than five conventicles among 
them, namely, three small meetings of Quakers, and two of 
Presbyterians. 'Tis observed that those counties where the Pres- 
byterian meetings are produce very mean tobacco, and for that 
reason can't get an orthodox minister to stay among them ; but 
whenever they could, the people very orderly went to church." 



* It appears from his will, dated in 1708, that he also owned a house and lot 
in the new town in Princess Anne County, on the eastern branch of Elizabeth 
River, and a house and lot in the new town on Wormley's Creek, called Urbanna. 
Whether he used these houses for merchandise, or for public worship, is not 
known. It appears from Commissary Blair's report on the state of the church 
in Virginia, that the congregation on Elizabeth River existed before the year 
1700. From the fact of Mr. Makemie's directing, in his will, that his dwelling- 
house aud lot on that river should be sold, it has been inferred that he had re- 
sided there before he moved to the opposite shore of the Chesapeake, and that 
the church in question was gathered by him ; if so, it must have been formed 
before 1690; for in that year he was residing on the Eastern Shore. Others 
have supposed that the congregation on Elizabeth River was composed of a small 
company of Scotch emigrants, whose descendants are still to be found in the 
neighborhood of Norfolk. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 873 

From this it may be inferred that the Eastern Shore, where 
Makemie was settled, produced poor tobacco, and that in conse- 
quence of it there was no minister of the established church in 
his neighborhood. He is supposed to have had four places of 
preaching; his labors proved acceptable; his hearers and congre- 
gations increased in number, and there was a demand for other 
ministers of the same denomination. Mr. Makemie, about the 
year 1704, returned to the mother country and remained there 
about a year. During the following year two ministers, styled 
his associates, were licensed, by authority of Governor Seymour, 
to preach in Somerset County, in Maryland, notwithstanding the 
opposition of the neighboring Episcopal minister. Makemie's 
imprisonment in New York (by Lord Cornbury) for preaching in 
that city, and his able defence upon his trial, are well known. 
He died in 1708, leaving a large estate. His library was much 
larger than was usually possessed by Virginia clergymen in that 
day, and included a number of law books. He appointed the 
Honorable Francis Jenkins, of Somerset County, Maryland, and 
Mary Jenkins, his lady, executors of his last will and testament, 
and guardians of his children.* 

In 1699 a penalty of five shillings was imposed on such per- 
sons in Virginia as should not attend the parish church once in 
two months; but dissenters, qualified according to the toleration 
act of the first year of William and Mary, were exempted from 
this penalty, provided they should attend at "any congregation, 
or place of religious worship, permitted and allowed by the said 
act of parliament, once in two months, "f Hening remarks of this 
law: "It is surely an abuse of terms to call a law a toleration 
act which imposes a religious test on the conscience, in order to 
avoid the penalties of another law equally violating every princi- 
ple of religious freedom. The provisions of this act may be seen 
in the fourth volume of Blackstone's Commentaries, page 53. 
Nothing could be more intolerant than to impose the penalties by 
this act prescribed for not repairing to church, and then to hold 

* Foote'9 Sketches of Va., first series, 40, 58, 63, 84; and Force's Historical 
Tracts, iv. 

■j- Hening, iii. 171. 



374 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

out the idea of exemption, by a compliance with the provisions 
of such a law as the statute of 1 William and Mary, adopted by 
a mere general reference, when not one person in a thousand 
could possibly know its contents." It was an age when the state 
of religion was low in England, and of those ministers sent over 
to Virginia not a few were incompetent, some openly profligate; 
and religion slumbered in the languor of moral lectures, the 
maxims of Socrates and Seneca, and the stereotyped routine of 
accustomed forms. Altercations between minister and people 
were not unfrequent; the parson was a favorite butt for aristo- 
cratic ridicule. Sometimes a pastor more exemplary than the 
rest was removed from mercenary motives, or on account of a 
faithful discharge of his duties. More frequently the unfit were 
retained by popular indifference. The clergy, in effect, did not 
enjoy that permanent independency of the people which properly 
belongs to a hierarchy. The vestry, a self-perpetuated body of 
twelve gentlemen, thought themselves "the parson's master," and 
the clergy in vain deplored the precarious tenure of their livings. 
The commissary's powers were few, limited, and disputed; he was 
but the shadow of a bishop ; he could not ordain nor confirm ; he 
could not depose a minister. Yet the people, jealous of prelati- 
cal tyranny, watched his feeble movements with a vigilant and 
suspicious eye. The church in Virginia was destitute of an effec- 
tive discipline.* 

* Hawks ; Bancroft ; Beverley, B. iv. 26. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 



1704-1710. 



Edward Nott, Lieutenant-Governor — Earl of Orkney, Titular Governor-in-chief — 
Nott's Administration — Robert Hunter appointed Lieutenant-Governor — Cap- 
tured by the French — The Rev. Samuel Sandford endows a Free School — Lord 
Baltimore. 

On the loth day of August, 1704, the Duke of Marlborough 
gained a celebrated victory over the French and Bavarians at 
Blenheim.* During the same month Edward Nott came over to 
Virginia, lieutenant-governor under George Hamilton, Earl of 
Orkney, who had been appointed governor-in-chief, and from this 
time the office became a pensionary sinecure, enjoyed by one re- 
siding in England, and who, out of a salary of two thousand 
pounds a year, received twelve hundred. The Earl of Orkney, 
who enjoyed this sinecure for forty years, having entered the 
army in his youth, was made a colonel in 1689-90, and in 1695-6 
was created Earl of Orkney, in consideration of his merit and 
gallantry. He was present at the battles of the Boyne, Athlone, 
Limerick, Aghriin, Steinkirk, Lauden, Namur, and Blenheim, and 
was a great favorite of William the Third. In the first year of 
Queen Anne's reign he was made a major-general, and shortly after 
a Knight of the Thistle, and served with distinction in all the wars 
of her reign. As one of the sixteen peers of Scotland he was a 
member of the house of lords for many years. He married, in 
1695, Elizabeth, daughter to Sir Edward Villiers, Knight, (Maid 
of Honor to Queen Mary,) sister to Edward, Earl of Jersey, by 
whom he had three daughters, Lady Anne, who married the Earl 
of Inchequin, Lady Frances, who married Sir Thomas Sanderson, 
Knight of the Bath, Knight of the Shire of Lincoln, and brother 
to the Earl of Scarborough, and Lady Harriet, married to the 
Earl of Orrery. 

* In the following year appeared the first American newspaper, " The Boston 
News-Lctter." 

(375) 



376 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Nott, a mild, benevolent man, did not survive long enough to 
realize what the people hoped from his administration. In the 
fall after his arrival he called an assembly, which concluded a 
general revisal of the laws that had been long in hand. Some 
salutary acts went into operation, but those relating to the church 
and clergy proving unacceptable to the commissary, as encroach- 
ing on the confines of prerogative, were suspended by the gover- 
nor, and thus fell through. Governor Nott procured the passage 
of an act providing for the building of a palace for the governor, 
and appropriating three thousand pounds to that object, and he 
dissented to an act infringing on the governor's right of appoint- 
ing justices of the peace, by making the concurrence of five of 
the council necessary. An act establishing the general court was 
afterwards disallowed by the board of trade, because it did not 
recognize the appellate rights of the crown. This assembly 
passed a new act for the establishment of ports and towns, 
"grounding it only upon encouragements according to her 
majesty's letter;" but the Virginia merchants complaining against 
it, this measure also failed. 

During the first year of Nott's administration the College of 
William and Mary was destroyed by fire.* The assembly had 
held their sessions in it for several years. Governor Nott died 
in August, 1706, aged forty-nine years. The assembly erected a 
monument to his memory in the graveyard of •the church at Wil- 
liamsburg. In the inscription he is styled, "His Excellency, 
Edward Nott, the late Governor of this Colony." It appears that 
he and his successors were allowed to retain the chief title, as 
giving them more authority with the people, the Earl of Orkney 
being quite content with a part of the salary. 

England having now adopted the French policy of appointing 
military men for the colonial governments, in 1708 Robert Hunter, 
a brigadier-general, a scholar, and a wit — a friend of Addison 
and Swift — was appointed lieutenant-governor of Virginia ; but he 
was captured on the voyage by the French. Dean Swift, in 



* The same disaster has recently befallen this venerable institution, on the 
8th of February, 1850. The library, comprising many rare and valuable works, 
shared the fate of the building. The •walls are rising again on the same spot. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 377 

January, 1708-9, writes to him, then a prisoner in P/aris, that 
unless he makes haste to return to England and get him appointed 
Bishop of Virginia, he will be persuaded by Addison, newly ap- 
pointed secretary of state for Ireland, to accompany him.* Two 
months later he writes to him : "All my hopes now terminate in 
being made Bishop of Virginia." In the year 1710 Hunter be- 
came Governor of New York and the Jerseys, and his adminis- 
tration was happily conducted. 

Samuel Sandford, who had been some time resident in Accomac 
County: by his will, dated at London in this year, he leaves a 
large tract of land, the rents and profits to be appropriated to the 
education of the children of the poor. It appears probable that 
he had served as a minister in Accomac, and at the time of the 
making of his will was a minister in the County of Gloucester, 
England. 

About the year 1709, Benedict Calvert, Lord Baltimore, aban- 
doned the Church of Rome and embraced Protestantism. To 
Charles Calvert, his son, likewise a Protestant, the full privileges 
of the Maryland charter were subsequently restored by George 
the First, f 

* Anderson's Hist. Col. Church, iii. 127. f Ibid., iii. 183. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 



lno-in-i. 



Spotswood, Lieutenant-Governor — His Lineage and Early Career — Dissolves the 
Assembly — Assists North Carolina — Sends Cary and others Prisoners to Eng- 
land — Death of Queen Anne — Accession of George the First — German Settle- 
ment — Virginia's Economy — Church Establishment — Statistics. 

In the year 1710 Colonel Alexander Spotswood was sent over 
as lieutenant-governor, under the Earl of Orkney. He was de- 
scended from the ancient Scottish family of Spottiswoode. The 
surname is local, and was assumed by the proprietors .of the lands 
and Barony of Spottiswoode, in the Parish of Gordon, and County 
of Berwick, as soon as surnames became hereditary in Scotland. 
The immediate ancestor of the family was Robert de Spotswood, 
born during the reign of King Alexander the Third, who suc- 
ceeded to the crown of Scotland in 1249. Colonel Alexander 
Spotswood was born in 1676, the year of Bacon's Rebellion, at 
Tangier, then an English colony, in Africa, his father, Robert 
Spotswood, being physician to the governor, the Earl of Middle- 
ton, and the garrison there. The grandfather of Alexander was 
Sir Robert Spotswood, Lord President of the College of Justice, 
and Secretary of Scotland in the time of Charles the First, and 
author of "The Practicks of the Laws of Scotland." He was the 
second son of John Spotswood, or Spottiswoode, Archbishop of 
St. Andrews, and author of "The History of the Church of Scot- 
land." The mother of Colonel Alexander Spotswood was a 
widow, Catharine Elliott; his father died at Tangier in 1688, 
leaving this his only child.* Colonel Alexander Spotswood was 
bred in the army from his childhood, and uniting genius with 
energy, served with distinction under the Duke of Marlborough. 



* Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Burke's Lauded Gentry of Great Britain and 
Ireland, ii., Art. Spottiswoode; Chalmers' Introduction, i. 394; Keith's Hist, 
of Va., 173. 
(378) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 379 

He was dangerously wounded in the breast by the first fire which 
the French made on the Confederates at the battle of Blenheim. 
He served during the heat of that sanguinary war as deputy 
quartermaster-general. In after-life, while governor of Virginia, 
he sometimes showed to his guests a four-pound ball that struck 
his coat. Blenheim Castle is represented in the background of 
a portrait of him, preserved at Chelsea, in the County of King 
William. 

The arrival of Governor Spotswood in Virginia was hailed 
with joy, because he brought with him the right of Habeas Cor- 
pus — a right guaranteed to every Englishman by Magna Charta, 
but hitherto denied to Virginians. He entered upon the duties 
of his office in June, 1710. The two houses of the assembly 
severally returned thanks for an act affording them "relief from 
long imprisonments," and appropriated upwards of two thousand 
pounds for completing the governor's palace. In the following 
year Spotswood wrote back to England: "This government is in 
perfect peace and tranquillity, under a due obedience to the royal 
authority and a gentlemanly conformity to the Church of Eng- 
land." The assembly was continued by several prorogations to 
November, 1711. During the summer of this year, upon an 
alarm of an intended French invasion of Virginia, the governor 
exerted himself to put the colony in the best posture of defence. 
Upon the convening of the assembly their jealousy of prerogative 
power revived, and they refused to pay the expense of collecting 
the militia, or to discharge the colonial debt, because, as Spots- 
wood informed the ministry, "they hoped by their frugality to 
recommend themselves to the populace." The assembly would 
only consent to levy twenty thousand pounds, by duties laid 
chiefly on British manufactures; and notwithstanding the gover- 
nor's message, they insisted on giving discriminating privileges 
to Virginia owners of vessels in preference to British subjects 
proper, saying that the same exemption had always existed. The 
governor declined the proffered levy, and finding that nothing 
further could be obtained, dissolved the assembly, and in antici- 
pation of an Indian war was obliged to solicit supplies from 
England. 

About this time, the feuds that raged in the adjoining province 



380 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

of North Carolina, threatening to subvert all regular government 
there, Hyde, the governor, called upon Spotswood for aid. He 
at first sent Clayton, a man of singular prudence, to endeavor to 
reconcile the hostile factions. But Cary, the ringleader of the 
insurgents, having refused to make terms, Spotswood ordered a 
detachment of militia toward the frontier of North Carolina, while 
he sent a body of marines, from the coast-guard ships, to destroy 
Cary's naval force. In a dispatch, Spotswood complained to 
Lord Dartmouth of the reluctance that he found in the inhabit- 
ants of the counties bordering on North Carolina, to march to 
the relief of Governor Hyde. No blood was shed upon the occa- 
sion, and Cary, Porter, and other leaders in those disturbances 
retiring to Virginia, were apprehended by Spotswood in July, 
1711, and sent prisoners to England, charged with treason. In 
the ensuing year Lord Dartmouth addressed letters to the colo- 
nies, directing the governors to send over no more prisoners for 
crimes or misdemeanors, without proof of their guilt. 

In the Tuscarora war, commenced by a massacre on the fron- 
tier of North Carolina in September of this year, Spotswood 
again made an effort to relieve that colony, and prevented the 
tributary Indians from joining the enemy. He felt that little 
honor was to be derived from a contest with those who fought 
like wild beasts, and he rather endeavored to work upon their 
hopes and fears by treaty. To allay the clamors of the public 
creditors the governor convened the assembly in 1712, and de- 
monstrated to them that during the last twenty-two years the 
permanent revenue had been so deficient as to require seven thou- 
sand pounds from the monarch's private purse to supply it. In 
the month of January, 1714, he at length concluded a peace 
with these ferocious tribes, who had been drawn into the contest, 
and, blending humanity with vigor, he taught them that while he 
could chastise their insolence he commiserated their fate. 

On the seventeenth day of November the governor, in his ad- 
dress to the assembly, announced the death of Queen Anne, the 
last of the Stuart monarchs, and the succession of George the 
First, the first of the Guelfs, but maternally a grandson of James 
the First. 

The frontier of the colony of Virginia was now undisturbed by 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 381 

Indian incursions, so that the expenditure was reduced to one- 
third of what had been previously required. A settlement of 
German Protestants had recently been effected under the gover- 
nor's auspices, in a region hitherto unpeopled, on the Rapidan.* 
The place settled by these Germans was called Germanna, after- 
wards the residence of Spotswood. These immigrants, being 
countrymen of the new sovereign, could claim an additional title 
to the royal favor on that account. Spotswood was at the time 
endeavoring to extend the blessings of a Christian education to 
the children of the Indians, and although the beneficial result of 
this scheme might to some appear too remote, he declared that 
for him it was a sufficient encouragement to think that posterity 
might reap the benefit of it. The Indian troubles, by which the 
frontier of Virginia had of late years suffered so much, the gover- 
nor attributed mainly to the clandestine trade carried on with 
them by unprincipled men. The same evil has continued down 
to the present day. In the before-mentioned address to the 
assembly, Spotswood informed them that since their preceding 
session he had received a supply of ammunition, arms, and other 
necessaries of war, sent out by the late Queen Anne. 

During eleven years, from 1707 to 1718, while other colonies 
were burdened with taxation for extrinsic purposes, Virginia 
steadily adhered to a system of rigid economy, and during that 
interval eighty-three pounds of tobacco per poll was the sum-total 
levied by all acts of assembly, f The Virginians now began to 
scrutinize, with a jealous eye, the circumstances of the govern- 
ment, and the assembly "held itself entitled to all the rights and 
privileges of an English parliament." 

The act of 1642, reserving the right of presentation to the 
parish, the license of the Bishop of London, and the recommenda- 
tion of the governor, availed but little against the popular will, 
and there were not more than four inducted ministers in the 
colony. Republicanism was thus finding its way even into the 



* There are several rivers in Virginia called after Queen Anne: the North 
Anna, South Anna, llivanna, and Rapidan; and the word Fluvanna appears to 
be derived from the same source. 

f Va. Hist. Reg., iv. 11. 



382 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

church, and vestries were growing independent. The parish 
sometimes neglected to receive the minister ; sometimes received 
but did not present him, the custom being to employ a minister 
by the year. In 1703 it was decided that the minister was an 
incumbent for life, and could not be displaced by the parish, but 
the vestries, by preventing his induction, excluded him from 
acquiring a freehold in his living, and he might be removed at 
pleasure. The ministers were not always men who could win the 
esteem of the people or command their respect. The Virginia 
parishes were so extensive that parishioners sometimes lived at 
the distance of fifty miles from the parish church, and the assem- 
bly would not augment the taxes by narrowing the bounds of the 
parishes, even to avoid the dangers of "paganism, atheism, or 
sectaries." Schism was threatening "to creep into the church, 
and to generate faction in the civil government."* "In Vir- 
ginia," says the Rev. Hugh Jones, f "there is no ecclesiastical 
court, so that vice, profaneness, and immorality are not sup- 
pressed. The people hate the very name of bishop's court." 
"All which things," he adds, "make it absolutely necessary for 
a bishop to be settled there, to pave the way for mitres in English 
America." 

There is preserved the record of the trial of Grace Sherwood, 
in the County of Princess Anne, for witchcraft. Being put in 
the water, with her hands bound, she was found to swim. A 
jury of old women having examined her, reported that "she was 
not like them." She was ordered by the court to be secured 
"by irons, or othei'wise," in jail for further trial. The pic- 
turesque inlet where she was put in the water is still known as 
"Witch Duck." The custom of nailing horse-shoes to the doors 
to keep out witches is not yet entirely obsolete. 

The Virginians at this time were deterred from sending their 
children across the Atlantic to be educated, through fear of the 
smallpox. X 

From the statistics of the year 1715, it appears that Virginia 

* Bancroft, iii. 27, 28, citing Spotswood MS., an account of Virginia during 
his administration, composed by the governor; Hawks, p. 88. 

| Tho Present State of Virginia J Bishop Meade's " Old Churches." 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 383 

■was, in population second only to Massachusetts,* which exceeded 
her in total number by one thousand, and in the number of whites 
by twenty-two thousand. All the colonies were at this time slave- 
holding; the seven Northern ones comprising an aggregate of 
12,150 slaves, and the four Southern ones 46,700. The propor- 
tion of whites to negroes in Virginia was upwards of four to one. 
Their condition was one of rather rigorous servitude. The num- 
ber of Africans imported into Virginia during the reign of George 
the First was upwards of ten thousand. In addition to the slaves, 
the Virginians had three kinds of white servants, — some hired 
in the ordinary way; others, called kids, bound by indenture for 
four or five years; the third class consisted of convicts. The 
two colonies, Virginia and Maryland, supplied the mother country, 
in exchange for her manufactures, with upwards of twenty-five 
millions of pounds of tobacco, of which there were afterwards 
exported more than seventeen millions, leaving for internal con- 
sumption more than eight millions. Besides the revenue which 
Great Britain derived from this source, in a commercial point of 
view, Virginia and Maryland were at this period of more conse- 
quence to the fatherland than all the other nine colonies com- 
bined. Virginia exchanged her corn, lumber, and salted provi- 
sions, for the sugar, rum, and wine of the West Indies and the 
Azores. 



* The comparative population of the eleven Anglo-American colonies in 1715 
was as follows: — 

White Men. Negroes. Total. 

New Hampshire 9,500 150 9,650 

Massachusetts 94,000 2,000 96,000 

Rhode Island ;... 8,500 500 9,000 

Connecticut 46,000 1,500 47,500 

New York 27,000 4,000 31,000 

New Jersey 21,000 1,500 22,500 

Pennsylvania 43,300 2,500 45,800 

Maryland 40,700 9,500 50,200 

Virginia 72,000 23,000 95,000 

North Carolina 7,500 3,700 11,200 

South Carolina 6,250 10,500 16,750 

375,750 58,850 434,600 
(Chalmers' Amer. Colonies, ii. 7.) 



CHAPTER L. 



17-14-17-16. 



Indian School at Fort Christanna — The Rev. Mr. Griffin, Teacher — Governor 
Spotswood visits Christanna — Description of the School and of the Saponey 
Indians. 

Governor Spotswood, who was a proficient in the mathema- 
tics, built the Octagon Magazine, rebuilt the College, and made 
improvements in the governor's house and gardens. He was an 
excellent judge on the bench. At his instance a grant of <£1000 
was made by the governors and visitors of William and Mary 
College in 1718, and a fund was established for instructing In- 
dian children in Christianity,* and he erected a school for that 
purpose on the southern frontier, at fort Christanna, established 
on the south side of the Meherrin River, in what is now South- 
ampton County. f This fort, built on a rising ground, was a pen- 
tagon enclosure of palisades, and instead of bastions, there were 
five houses, which defended each other; each side of the fort 
being about one hundred yards long. It was mounted with five 
cannon, and had a garrison of twelve men. The Rev. Charles 
Griffin had charge of the school here, being employed, in 1715, by 
Governor Spotswood to teach the Indian children, and to bring 
them to Christianity. The Rev. Hugh JonesJ says that he had 
seen there "seventy-seven Indian children at school at a time, at 
the governor's sole expense, I think." This appears to be a mis- 
take. The school-house was built at the expense of the Indian Com- 
pany^ They were taught the English tongue, and to repeat the 
catechism, and to read the Bible and Common Prayers, and to 
write. These some of them learned tolerably well. The ma- 

* Keith's Hist of Va., 173. 

-j- Huguenot Family, 271, and map opposite page 357- The names on this lit- 
tle map, taken from a letter by Peter Fontaine, are reversed, by mistake of the 
engraver. y 

J State and Condition of Virginia. 

\ Rev. C. Griffin's Letter, in Bishop Meade's Old Churches, etc., i. 287. 

(384) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIKGINIA. 385 

jority of tliem could repeat the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and 
Ten Commandments, behaved reverently at prayers, and made 
the responses. The Indians became so fond of this worthy mis- 
sionary, that they would sometimes lift him up in their arms; 
and they would have chosen him chief of their tribe, the Sapo- 
neys. They alone remained steadfastly at peace with the whites. 
They numbered about two hundred persons, and lived within 
musket-shot of Fort Christanna. They had recently been go- 
verned by a queen, but she dying they were now governed by 
twelve old. men. When Governor Spotswood visited them in 
April, 1716, these old men waited on him at the Fort, and laid 
several skins at his feet, all bowing to him simultaneously. They 
complained through their interpreter of fifteeen of their young 
men having been surprised, and murdered, by the Genitoes, and 
desired the governor's assistance in warring against them until 
they killed as many of them. They governor agreed that they 
might revenge themselves, and that he would furnish them with 
ammunition. He also made restitution to them for losses which 
they complained they had suffered by being cheated by the Eng- 
lish. Sixty young men next made their appearance with feathers 
in their hair and run through their ears, their faces painted with 
blue and vermilion, their hair cut in fantastic forms, some looking 
like a cock's-comb ; and they had blue and red blankets wrapped 
around them. This was their war-dress, and it made them look 
like furies. They made no speech. Next came the young 
women with long, straight, black hair reaching down to the. waist, 
with a blanket tied round them, and hanging down like a petti- 
coat. Most of them had nothing to cover them from the waist 
upwards ; but some wore a mantle over the shoulders, made of two 
deer- skins sewed together. These Indians greased their bodies 
and heads with bear's oil, which, with the smoke of their cabins, 
gave them a disagreeable odor. They were very modest and 
faithful to their husbands. " They are straight and well-limbed, 
of good shape and extraordinary good features, as well the men 
as the women. They look wild, and are mighty shy of an Eng- 
lishman, and will not let you touch them."* 

* Huguenot Family, 272. 

25 



386 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

The Saponey town was situated on the bank of the Meherrin, 
the houses all joining one another and making a circle. This 
circle could be entered by three passages, each about six feet 
wide. All the doors are on the inside of the circle, and the level 
area within was common for the diversion of the people. In the 
centre was a large stump of a tree, on which the head men stood 
when making a speech. The women bound their infants to a 
board cut in the shape of the child; the top of the board was 
round, and there was a hole for a string, by which it is hung to 
the limb of a tree, or to a pin in a post, and there swings and 
diverts himself out of harm's way. The Saponeys lived as lazily 
and as miserably as any people in the world. The boys with 
their bows shot at the eye of an axe, set up at twenty yards 
distance, and the governor rewarded their skill with knives 
and looking-glasses. They also danced the war-dance; after 
which the governor treated them to a luncheon, which they de- 
voured with animal avidity. 



CHAPTER LI. 



Spotswood's Tramontane Expedition — His Companions — Details of the Explora- 
tion — They cross the Blue Ridge — The Tramontane Order — The Golden 
Horseshoe. 

It was in the year 1716 that Spotswood made the first com- 
plete discovery of a passage over the Blue Ridge of mountains. 
Robert Beverley, in the preface to the second edition of his 
"History of Virginia," published at London in 1722, says: 
"I was with the present governor* at the head-spring of both 
those rivers, f and their fountains are in the highest ridge of 
mountains." The governor, accompanied by John Fontaine, who 
had been an ensign in the British army, and who had recently 
come over to Virginia, started from Williamsburg, on his expedi- 
tion over the Appalachian Mountains, as they were then called. 
Having crossed the York River at the Brick-house, they lodged 
that night at the seat of Austin Moore, now Chelsea, on the Ma- 
tapony River, a few miles above its junction with the Pamunkey. 
On the following night they were hospitably entertained by Ro- 
bert Beverley, the historian, at his residence in Middlesex. The 
governor left his chaise there, and mounted his horse for the rest 
of the journey; and Beverley accompanied him in the explora- 
tion. Proceeding along the Rappahannock they came to the 
Germantown, ten miles below the falls, where they halted for some 
days. On the twenty-sixth of August Spotswood was joined here 
by several gentlemen, two small companies of rangers, and four 
Meherrin Indians. The gentlemen of the party appear to have 
been Spotswood, Fontaine, Beverley, Colonel Robertson, Austin 
Smith, who returned home owing to a fever, Todd, Dr. Robinson, 
Taylor, Mason, Brooke, and Captains Clouder and Smith. The 
whole number of the party, including gentlemen, rangers, 



* Spotswood. t York and Rappahannock. 

(387) 



888 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

pioneers, Indians, and servants, was probably about fifty. They 
had with them a large number of riding and pack-horses, an 
abundant supply of provisions, and an extraordinary variety of 
liquors. Having had their horses shod, they left Germantown on 
the twenty-ninth of August, and encamped that night three miles 
from Germanna. The camps were named respectively after the 
gentlemen of the expedition, the first one being called " Camp 
Beverley," where "they made great fires, supped, and drank 
good punch." 

Aroused in the morning by the trumpet, they proceeded west- 
ward, each day being diversified by the incidents and adventures 
of exploration. Some of the party encountered hornets ; others 
were thrown from their horses; others killed rattlesnakes. Deer 
and bears were shot, and the venison and bear-meat were roasted 
before the fire upon wooden forks. At night they lay on the 
boughs of trees under tents. At the head of the Rappahannock 
they admired the rich virgin soil, the luxuriant grass, and the 
heavy timber of primitive forests. Thirty-six days after Spots- 
wood had set out from Williamsburg, and on the fifth day of 
September, 1716, a clear day, at about one o'clock, he and his 
party, after a toilsome ascent, reached the top of the mountain. 
It is difficult to ascertain at what point they ascended, but proba- 
bly it was Swift Run Gap. 

As the company wound along, in perspective caravan line, 
through the shadowy defiles, the trumpet for the first time awoke 
the echoes of the mountains, and from the summit Spotswood 
and his companions beheld with rapture the boundless panorama 
that lay spread out before them, far as the eye could reach, 
robed in misty splendor. Here they drank the health of King 
George the First, and all the royal family. The highest summit 
was named by Spotswood Mount George, in honor of his majesty, 
and the gentlemen of the expedition, in honor of the governor, 
named the next in height, Mount Spotswood, according to Fon- 
taine, and Mount Alexander, according to the Rev. Hugh 
Jones.* The explorers were on the water-shed, two streams 

* He says that Spotswood graved the king's name on a rock on Mount George: 
but, according to Fontaine, " the governor had graving-irons, but could not grave 
anything, the stones were so hard." 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 389 

rising there, the one flowing eastward and the other westward. 
Several of the company were desirous of returning, but the go- 
vernor persuaded them to continue on. Descending the western 
side of the mountain, and proceeding about seven miles farther, 
they reached the Shenandoah, which they called the Euphrates, 
and encamped by the side of it. They observed trees blazed by 
the Indians, and the tracks of elks and buffaloes, and their lairs. 
They noticed a vine bearing a sort of wild cucumber, and a shrub 
with a fruit like the currant, and ate very good wild grapes. 
This place was called Spotswood Camp. The river was found 
fordable at one place, eighty yards wide in the narrowest part, 
and running north. It was here that the governor undertook to 
engrave the king's name on a rock, and not on Mount George. 

Finding a ford they crossed the river, and this was the ex- 
treme point which the governor reached westward. Recrossing 
the river, some of the party using grasshoppers for bait, caught 
perch and chub fish; others went a hunting and killed deer and 
turkeys. Fontaine carved his name on a tree by the river-side ; 
and the governor buried a bottle with a paper inclosed, on which 
he wrote that he took possession for King George the First of 
England. Dining here they fired volleys, and drank healths, 
they having on this occasion a variety of liquors — Virginia red 
wine and white wine, Irish usquebaugh, brandy, shrub, two kinds 
of rum, champagne, canary, cherry punch, cider, etc. On the 
seventh the rangers proceeded on a farther exploration, and the 
rest of the company set out on their return homeward. Gover- 
nor Spotswood arrived at Williamsburg on the seventeenth of 
September, after an absence of about six weeks. The distance 
which they had gone was reckoned two hundred and nineteen 
miles, and the whole, going and returning, four hundred and 
thirty-eight. "For this expedition," says the Rev. Hugh Jones, 
they were obliged to provide a great quantity of horseshoes, 
things seldom used in the eastern parts of Virginia, where there 
are no stones. Upon which account the governor upon his re- 
turn presented each of his companions with a golden horseshoe, 
some of which I have seen covered with valuable stones resem- 
bling ljeads of nails, with the inscription on one side, ' Sic juvat 
transccndere montes.' This he instituted to encourage gentle- 



390 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

men to venture backward and make discoveries and settlements, 
any gentleman being entitled to wear this golden horseshoe on 
the breast who could prove that he had drank his majesty's 
health on Mount George." Spotswood instituted the Tramon- 
tane Order for this purpose ; but it appears to have soon fallen 
through. According to Chalmers, the British government pe- 
nuriously refused to pay the cost of the golden horseshoes. A 
novel called the "Knight of the Horseshoe," by Dr. William 
A. Caruthers, derives its name and subject from Spotswood's 
exploit.* 



* Memoirs of a Huguenot Family, 281, 292; Introduction to Randolph's edi- 
tion of Beverley's Hist, of Va., 5; Rev. Hugh Jones' Present State of Virginia. 
The miniature horseshoe that had belonged to Spotswood, according to a de- 
scendant of his, the late Mrs. Susan Bott, of Petersburg, who had seen it, was 
small enough to be worn on a watch-chain. Some of them were set with jewels. 
One of these horseshoes is said to be still preserved in the family of Brooke. A 
bit of colored glass, apparently the stopper of a small bottle, with a horseshoe 
stamped on it, was dug up some years ago in the yard at Chelsea, in King Wil- 
liam County, the residence of Governor Spotswood's eldest daughter. 



CHAPTER LIL 



±715-1713. 



Condition of the Colonies — South Carolina appeals to Virginia for Succor against 
the Indians — Proceedings of the Council and the Assembly — Disputes between 
them — Dissensions of Governor and Burgesses — He dissolves them — Black- 
beard, the Pirate — Maynard's Engagement with him — His Death. 

The twenty-five counties of the Ancient Dominion were under 
a government consisting of a governor and twelve councillors 
appointed by the king, and fifty burgesses elected by the free- 
holders. The permanent revenue, established at the restoration, 
now amounted to four thousand pounds sterling, and this sum 
proving inadequate to the public expenditure, the deficit was eked 
out by three hundred pounds drawn from the quit-rents — private 
property of the king. Relieved from the dangers of Indian 
border warfare, and blessed with the able administration of 
Governor Spotswood, Virginia, under the tranquil reign of the 
first George, advanced in commerce, population, wealth, and 
power, more rapidly than any of her sister colonies. 

A few of the principal families affected to establish an aristo- 
cracy or oligarchy, and Spotswood, at his first arrival, discovered 
that it was necessary " to have a balance on the Bench and the 
Board." He subsequently warned the ministers, "that a party 
was so encouraged by their success in removing former governors, 
that they are resolved no one shall sit easy who doth not entirely 
submit to their dictates ; this is the case at present, and will con- 
tinue, unless a stop is put to their growing power, to whom not 
any one particular governor, but government itself, is equally 
disagreeable." 

At a council held at Williamsburg on the 26tn day of May, 
1715, the governor presented a letter, received by express, from 
Governor Craven, of South Carolina, representing the deplorable 
condition of that colony from the murderous inroads of the 
Indians, the several tribes having confederated together and 

(391) 



392 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

threatened the total destruction of the inhabitants, and request- 
ing a supply of arms and ammunition. The council unanimously 
agreed to the request, and, conceiving that Virginia was also in 
imminent danger of invasion, desired the Indian Company to take 
from the magazine so much ammunition as was necessary for 
South Carolina, and to return the same "by the first conveniency, 
that so this colony may not be unprovided for its necessary de- 
fence." It was further ordered, that the governors of Maryland, 
New York, and New England, be exhorted to send ships of war 
to Charleston, and that the governor of South Carolina be in- 
vited to send hither their women and children, and such other 
persons as are useless in the war. Three pieces of cannon were 
sent to Christanna, and ammunition to Germanna, these being 
the two frontier settlements. Colonel Nathaniel Harrison was 
empowered to disarm the Nottoway Indians. 

In June, upon the application of the governor of North Caro- 
lina for preventing the inhabitants of that province from deserting 
it in that time of danger, a proclamation was issued by Governor 
Spotswood ordering all persons coming thence, without a pass- 
port, to be arrested and sent back. 

A letter from the governor of South Carolina, brought by 
Arthur Middleton, Esq., requested assistance of men from Vir- 
ginia. South Carolina proposed, in order to pay the men, to send 
to Virginia slaves to the number of the volunteers, to work on the 
plantations for their benefit. The council unanimously resolved 
to comply with the request, and to defray the charges incurred 
until the men should arrive in South Carolina, and for this pur- 
pose the governor and council agreed to postpone the payment of 
their own salaries. It was ordered that a party of Nottoway and 
Meherrin Indians should be sent to the assistance of the South 
Carolinians. An assembly was summoned to meet on the third 
of August. The duty of five pounds on slaves imported was sus- 
pended for the benefit of planters sending their slaves from South 
Carolina to Virginia as a place of safety. The contract entered 
into on this occasion between the two provinces, for the raising 
of forces, was styled "A treaty made between this government 
and the Province of South Carolina." Early in July, Spotswood 
dispatched a number of men and arms. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 893 

The king of the Saran Indians visited Williamsburg, and agreed 
to bring chiefs of the Catawbas and Cherokees to treat of peace, 
and to aid in cutting off the Yamasees and other enemies of South 
Carolina. 

The assembly met on the 3d of August, 1715, being the first 
year of the reign of George the First. The members of the 
council were Robert Carter, James Blair, Philip Ludwell, John 
Smith, John Lewis, William Cocke, Nathaniel Harrison, Mann 
Page, and Robert Porteus, Esquires. Daniel McCarty, Esq., 
of Westmoreland, was elected speaker of the house of burgesses. 
The governor announced in his speech that the object of the ses- 
sion was to secure Virginia against the murders, massacres, and 
tortures of Indian invasion, and to succor South Carolina in her 
distress, and he made known his desire to treat with the Indian 
chiefs who were expected, at the head of a body of men, on the 
frontiers. The burgesses expressed their hope that as the people 
of Virginia were so unable to afford supplies, the king would sup- 
ply the deficiency out of his quit-rents, and requested further in- 
formation as to the treaty made with South Carolina, and the 
aid required. A bill was introduced in the house for amending 
an act for preventing frauds in tobacco payments, and improving 
the staple. The burgesses requested the governor's assistance 
in arresting Richard Littlepage and Thomas Butts, who defied 
their authority. It appears that these gentlemen, being justices 
of the peace, sitting in the court of claims, in which the people 
presented their grievances, had refused to certify some such as 
being false and seditious. The governor refused to aid in en- 
forcing the warrant. The house sent up a bill making a small 
appropriation for the succor of South Carolina, but clogged with 
the repeal of parts of the tobacco act, and the council rejected it, 
"the tacking things of a different nature to a money bill" being 
"an encroachment on the privileges of the council." 

A controversy next ensued between the council and the house 
as to the power of redressing the grievances of the people. A 
dispute also occurred between the governor and the burgesses 
relative to the removal of the court of James City County from 
Jamestown to Williamsburg. The governor said: "After five 
years' residence upon the borders of James City County, I think 



394 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

it hard I may not be allowed to be as good a judge as Mr. 
Marable's rabble, of a proper place for the court-house." 

The burgesses declared their sympathy with the suffering 
Carolinians, but insisted upon the extreme poverty of the people 
of Virginia, and so excused themselves for clogging the appro- 
priation bill with the repeal, of parts of the tobacco act, their 
object being by one act to relieve Virginia and succor Carolina. 
Governor Spotswood, in his reply, remarked: "When you speak 
of poverty and engagements, you argue as if you knew the state 
of your own country no better than you do that of others, for as 
I, that have had the honor to preside for some years past over 
this government, do positively deny that any public engagements 
have drawn any more wealth out of this colony than what many 
a single person in it has on his own account expended in the 
time, so I do assert that there is scarce a country of its figure in 
the Christian world less burdened with public taxes. If your- 
selves sincerely believe that it is reduced to the last degree of 
poverty, I wonder the more that you should reject propositions 
for lessening the charges of assemblies; that you should expel 
gentlemen out of your house for only offering to serve their 
counties upon their own expense, and that while each day of your 
sitting is so costly to your country, you should spend time so 
fruitlessly, for now, after a session of twenty-five days, three 
bills only have come from your house, and even some of these 
framed as if you did not expect they should pass into acts." 

On the seventh day of September the council sent to the bur- 
gesses a review of some of their resolutions reflecting upon them, 
and the governor, and the preceding assembly. This review is 
able and severe. On this day the governor dissolved the assem- 
bly, after a speech no less able, and still more severe. After 
animadverting upon the proceedings of the house at length, and 
paying a high tribute to the merit of the council, the governor 
concludes thus: — * 

" But to be plain with you, the true interest of your country is 



* Extracts from Journal of the Council of Virginia, sitting as the upper 
house of assembly, preserved in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, 
in S. Lit. Messr., xvii. 585. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 895 

not what you Lave troubled your heads about. All your pro- 
ceedings have been calculated to answer the notions of the igno- 
rant populace, and if you can excuse yourselves to them, you 
matter not how you stand before God, your prince, and all judi- 
cious men, or before any others to whom you think you owe not 
your elections. The new short method you have fallen upon to 
clear your conduct by your own resolves, will prove the censure 
to be just, for I appeal to- all rational men who shall read the 
assembly journals, as well of the last session as of this, whether 
some of your resolves of your house of the second instant are not 
as wide from truth and fair reasoning as others are from good 
manners. In fine, I cannot but attribute these miscarriages to 
the people's mistaken choice of a set of representatives, whom 
Heaven has not generally endowed with the ordinary qualifications 
requisite to legislators, for I observe that the grand ruling party 
in your house has not furnished chairmen for two of your stand- 
ing committees* who can spell English or write common sense, 
as the grievances under their own handwriting will manifest. 
And to keep such an assembly on foot would be the discrediting 
a country that has many able and worthy gentlemen in it. And 
therefore I now dissolve you." 

These proceedings throw light on the practical working of the 
colonial government, of the vigorous and haughty spirit of Spots- 
wood, who was not surpassed in ability or in character by any of 
the colonial governors, and of the liberty-loving but factious house 
of burgesses. They also exhibit the critical condition of South 
Carolina, and the imminent danger of Virginia at that period. 
On this last point Chalmers fell into an error, in stating that the 
Indians then had ceased to be objects of dread in Virginia. 

The assembly, as has been seen, expelled two burgesses for 
serving without compensation, which they stigmatized as tanta- 
mount to bribery — thus seeming indirectly to charge bribery upon 
the members of the British house of commons, who receive no 
per diem compensation. After five weeks spent in fruitless alter- 
cations, Spotswood, conceiving the assembly to be actuated by 
factious motives, dissolved them with harsh and contemptuous 

* Privileges and Claims. 



396 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

expressions, offending the spirit of the burgesses. He had pre- 
viously wounded the pride of the council, long the oligarchy of 
the Old Dominion, when "colonel, and member of his majesty's 
council of Virginia," was a sort of provincial title of nobility. 
Frequent anonymous letters were now transmitted to England, 
inveighing against Spotswood. "While the board of trade com- 
mended his general conduct, they reproved him for the offensive 
language which he had used in his speech to the burgesses, "who, 
though mean, ignorant people, and did not comply with his de- 
sires, ought not to have been irritated by sharp expressions, which 
may not only incense them, but even their electors." In other 
points, Spotswood vindicated himself with vigor and success, and 
he insisted "that some men are always dissatisfied, like the tories, 
if they are not allowed to govern; men who look upon every one 
not born in the country as a foreigner." 

When, in 1717, the ancient laws of the colony were revised, the 
acts of 1663, for preventing the recovery of foreign debts, and 
prohibiting the assemblage of Quakers, and that of 1676, (one of 
Bacon's laws,) excluding from office all persons who had not re- 
sided for three years in Virginia, were repealed by the king. 

John Teach, a pirate, commonly called Blackboard, in the 
year 1718 established his rendezvous at the mouth of Pamlico 
River, in North Carolina. He surrendered himself to Governor 
Eden, (who was suspected of being in collusion with him,) and 
took the oath of allegiance, in order to avail himself of a procla- 
mation of pardon offered by the king. Wasting the fruits of sea- 
robbery in gambling and debauchery, Blackbeard again embarked 
in piracy ; and having captured and brought in a valuable cargo, 
the Carolinians gave notice of it to the government of Virginia. 
Spotswood and the assembly immediately proclaimed a large re- 
ward for his apprehension, and Lieutenant Maynard, attached 
to a ship-of-war stationed in the Chesapeake Bay, was sent with 
two small vessels and a chosen crew in quest of him. An action 
ensued in Pamlico Bay on the 21st of November, 1718. Black- 
beard, it is said, had posted one of his men with a lighted match 
over the powder-magazine, to prevent a capture by blowing up 
his vessel, but if so, this order failed to be executed. Black- 
beard, surrounded by the slain, and bleeding from his wounds, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 397 

in the act of cocking a pistol, foil on the bloody deck and expired. 
His surviving comrades surrendered, and Maynard returned with 
his prisoners to James River, with Blackbeard's head hanging 
from the bowsprit. The captured pirates were tried in the ad- 
miralty court at Williamsburg, March, 1718, and thirteen of them 
were hung. Benjamin Franklin, then an apprentice in a printing- 
office, composed a ballad on the death of Teach, which was sung 
through the streets of Boston.* 



* Grahaine's Col. Hist. U. S., ii. 56, citing Williamson's Hist, of N. C. See, 
also, A General History of the Pyrates, published at London, (1726,) and "Lives 
and Exploits of Banditti and Robbers," by C. Macfarlane. 



CHAPTER LIIL 

Complaints against Spotswood — The Governor and the Council — Dissension be- 
tween Spotswood and the Assembly — Convocation of the Clergy — Controversy 
between Blair and Spotswood — Clergy address the Bishop of London — The 
Clergy side with Spotswood — Miscellaneous Matters — Governor Spotswood 
displaced — Succeeded by Drysdale — Spotswood's Administration reviewed — 
Germanna— Spotswood Deputy Postmaster General — Engaged in Iron Manu- 
facture — His Account of it — Advertisement — Knighted — Appointed Com- 
mander-in-chief of the Carthagena Expedition — His Death — Indian Boys at 
William and Mary College — Change in Spotswood's Political Views — His Mar- 
riage — His Children — His Widow — Spottiswoode, the Family Seat in Scotland 
— Portraits of Sir Alexander Spotswood and his Lady. 

At length eight members of the council, headed by Commis- 
sary Blair, complained to the government in London, that Go- 
vernor Spotswood had infringed the charter of the colony by 
associating inferior men with them in criminal trials. It was 
unfortunate that the Commissary's position involved him in these 
political squabbles: he would have been, doubtless, more usefully 
employed in those spiritual functions which were his proper 
sphere, and which he adorned. The governor lamented to the 
board of trade "how much anonymous obloquy had been cast 
upon his character, in order to accomplish the designs of a party, 
which, by their success in removing other governors, are so far 
encouraged, that they are resolved no one shall sit easy who doth 
not resign his duty, his reason, and his honor to the government 
of their maxims and interests." The domineering ambition of 
the council was long the fruitful source of mischiefs to Virginia ; 
and it is on this account that many of the complaints and accusa- 
tions against the governors are to be received with many grains 
of allowance. The twelve members of the council had a negative 
upon the governor's acts ; they were members of the assembly, 
judges of the highest court, and held command of the militia as 
county lieutenants. Stith, in his "History of Virginia," com- 
(398) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 399 

plains of their overweening power, and expresses his apprehen- 
sions of its evil consequences. 

As early as the year 1692, William the Third had appointed 
Neal postmaster for the Northern Colonies, with authority to 
establish posts. The rates being afterwards fixed by act of par- 
liament, the system was introduced into Virginia in the year 
1718, and Spotswood wrote to the board of trade, that "the 
people were made to believe that the parliament could not lay 
any tax (for so they call the rates of postage) on them without 
the consent of the general assembly. This gave a handle for 
framing some grievance against the new office ; and thereupon a 
bill was passed by both council and burgesses, which, though it 
acknowledged the act of parliament to be in force in Virginia, 
doth effectually prevent its ever being put in execution; whence 
your lordships may judge how well affected the major part of the 
assemblymen are toward the collection of this branch of the re- 
venue." The act, nevertheless, was enforced. 

The assembly refused to pass measures recommended by the 
governor ; invaded his powers by investing the county courts with 
the appointment of their own clerks; endeavored, as has been 
seen, to render inoperative the new post-office system, and trans- 
mitted an address to the king, praying that the instruction which 
required that no acts should be passed affecting the British com- 
merce or navigation without a clause of suspension, might be re- 
called, and that the governor's power of appointing judges of 
oyer and terminer should be limited; and they complained that 
the governor's attempts went to the subversion of the constitu- 
tion, since he made daily encroachments on their ancient rights. 
The governor, perceiving that it was the design of his opponents 
to provoke him, and then make a handle of the ebullitions of his 
resentment, displayed moderation as well as ability in these dis- 
putes, and when the assembly had completed their charges, pro- 
rogued them. This effervescence of ill humor excited a reaction 
in favor of Spotswood, and in a short time addresses poured in 
from the clergy, the college, and most of the counties, reprobat- 
ing the factious conduct of the legislature, and expressing the 
public happiness under an administration which had raised the 
colony from penury to prosperity. Meantime Colonel Byrd, 



400 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

who had been sent out to London as colonial agent, having rather 
failed in his efforts against Spotswood, begged the board of trade 
"to recommend forgiveness and moderation to both parties." 
The recommendation, enforced by the advice of Lord Orkney, the 
governor-in-chief, the Duke of Argyle, and other great men who 
patronized Spotswood, quieted these discords; and the governor, 
the council, and the burgesses now united harmoniously in pro- 
moting the public welfare. 

The chief apple of discord between the governor and the Vir- 
ginians was the old question relating to the powers of the vestry. 
About this time Governor Spotswood was engaged in a warm dis- 
pute with the vestry of St. Anne's Parish, Essex, in which he 
took very high ground. The Rev. Hugh Jones subsequently, 
while on a visit in England, reported to the Bishop of London 
some things against the rubrical exactness of Commissary Blair. 
Evil reports had also reached the mother country as to the moral 
character of some of the clergy. A convention of the Virginia 
clergy was, therefore, held in compliance with the direction of 
the Bishop of London, at the College of William and Mary, in 
April, 1719. The governor, in a letter addressed to this body, 
assails the commissary as denying "that the king's government 
has the right to collate ministers to ecclesiastical benefices within 
this colony," "deserting the cause of the church," and counte- 
nancing disorders in divine worship "destructive to the establish- 
ment of the church." To all this, Commissary Blair made a 
reply, vindicating himself triumphantly.* He appears to have 
sympathized on these matters with the vestries and the people. 
Governor Spotswood, on the contrary, was an extreme high 
churchman and supporter of royal prerogative, as might have 
been expected from the" descendant of a long line of ancestors 
always found arrayed on the side of the crown, and the church as 
established, and never with the people. , The journal of this con- 
vocation throws much light on the condition of the church and 
the clergy of Virginia at that time. The powers exercised by 
the vestries, indeed, often made the position of the clergy preca- 
rious; but it would, perhaps, have engendered far greater evils 

* Bishop Meade's Old Churches, etc., i. 160, ii. Appendix, 393. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 401 

if the governor had been allowed to be the patron of all the 
livings. Governor Spotswood's letter to the vestry of St. Anne's 
presents an elaborate argument against the right of the vestry 
to appoint or remove the minister; but, notwithstanding the op- 
position of the governor, bishop, clergy, and crown, the vestries 
and the people still steadfastly maintained this right. This ques- 
tion was the embryo of the revolution; political freedom is the 
offspring of religious freedom; it takes its rise in the church. 

In answer to an inquiry made by the Bishop of London, the 
convention voted "that no member had any personal knowledge 
of the irregularity of any clergyman's life in this colony," a 
manifest equivocation.* In their address to the Bishop of Lon- 
don, the convention state that all the ministers in Virginia are 
episcopally ordained, except Mr. Commissary, of whose ordina- 
tion a major part doubt ;f that the circumstances of the country 
will not permit them to conform to the established liturgy as they 
would desire ; that owing to the extent of the parishes they have 
service but once on Sunday, and but one sermon; that for the 
same reason the dead are not buried in churchyards, and the 
burial-service is usually performed by a layman ; that the people 
observe no holidays except Christmas-day and Good Friday, 
being unwilling to leave their daily labor ; and that of necessity 
the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is administered to persons 
who are not confirmed ; that the ministers are obliged to baptize, 
and church women, marry, and bury at private houses, adminis- 
ter the Lord's Supper to a single sick person, perform in church 
the office of both sacraments without the habits, ornaments, and 
vessels required by the liturgy. The convention press upon his 
lordship's attention the precarious tenure of their livings, to 
which many of these deviations from the liturgy were attributa- 
ble ; they declare that the people are adverse to the induction of 
the clergy, which exposes them to the great oppression of the 
vestries. The clergy refer to Governor Spotswood as, under 
God, their chief support, whose efforts in their behalf were, as 
alleged by the governor, opposed by some of the council and 
Commissary Blair, who was himself accused of some irregulari- 

* Bishop Meade's Old Churches, etc., i. 1G2. f A majority of one only. 

26 



402 HISTORY OP THE COLONY AND 

ties. The convention also stated that the commissary found 
great difficulty in making visitations, owing to the refusal of 
church wardens to take the official oath, or to make presentments, 
and from " the general aversion of the people to everything that 
looks like a spiritual court." The commissary refused to sub- 
scribe to it. The contending parties in these disputes were the 
governor and the clergy on the one side', and the commissary 
with the people on the other. According to the opinion of the 
attorney-general, Sir Edward Northey, given in 1703, "the right 
of presentation by the laws of Virginia was in the parishioners, 
and the right of lapse in the governor;" that is, if the vestry 
failed to choose a minister within six months, the governor had 
the right of appointing him ; but it was a right which the gover- 
nors, although reinforced by royal authority, could not enforce. 
Of the twenty-five members of this clerical convention only eight 
appear to have sided with the commissary. He held that the dif- 
ference between him and the governor as to the right of collation 
was this: the governor claimed the right in the first instance, 
like that of the king of England, to bestow livings of which he 
himself is patron ; the commissary was of opinion that the go- 
vernor's power corresponded to that of the bishop, not being ori- 
ginal, but only consequent upon a lapse; that is, a failure of the 
vestry to present within the time limited by law. Commissary 
Blair, throughout these angry controversies, in the course of 
which he was very badly treated by the governor and the clergy, 
bore himself with singular ability and excellent temper, and 
proved himself more than a match for his opponents.* 

Predatory parties of the Five Nations were repelled by force, 
and conciliated by presents. The frontier of Virginia was ex- 
tended to the foot of the Blue Ridge, and two new Piedmont 
counties, Spotsylvania and Brunswick, were established in 1720 
— the seventh year of George the First. f Spotsylvania included 
the northern pass through the mountains. At the special solici- 
tation of the governor, the two counties were exempted from 



* Bishop Meade's Old Churches, etc., i. 160, ii. Appendix, 1. 

j- Spotsylvania, named from the first syllable of the governor's name, com- 
pounded with a Latinized termination answering to the other syllable — a sort of 
conceit. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 403 

taxation for ten years. An act was passed imposing penalties on 
"whosoever shall weed, top, hill, succor, house, cure, strip or 
pack any seconds, suckers, or slips of tobacco." Two hundred 
pounds of tobacco were offered in reward for every wolf killed. 
Warehouses for storing tobacco and other merchandize, when first 
established in 1712, were denominated rolling-houses, from the 
mode of rolling the tobacco to market, before wagons came into 
general use or the navigation of the rivers improved. This 
mode of transporting tobacco prevailed generally in 1820, and 
later.* Tobacco warehouses in Virginia are now devoted exclu- 
sively to that commodity. In 1J-20, King George County was 
carved off from Richmond County, and Hanover from New Kent. 
A house for the governor was completed about this time. An 
act was passed to encourage the making of tar and hemp, and 
another to oblige ships coming from places infected with the 
plague to perform quarantine. The Indians of the Five Nations, 
warring with the Southern Indians for many years, had been in 
the habit of marching along the frontier of Virginia and com- 
mitting depredations. To prevent this, a treaty was effected with 
them, whereby they bound themselves not to cross Potomac 
River, nor to pass to the eastward of the great ridge of moun- 
tains, without a passport from the Governor of New York ; and, 
on the other hand, the Indians tributary to this government en- 
gaged not to pass over the Potomac, or go westward of the moun- 
tains, without a passport from the Governor of Virginia. This 
treaty was ratified at Albany, September, 1722. An act con- 
cerning servants and slaves' was repealed by proclamation. 

Spotswood urged upon the British government the policy of 
establishing a chain of posts beyond the Alleghanies, from the 
lakes to the Mississippi, to restrain the encroachments of the 
French. The ministry did not enter into his views on this sub- 
ject, and it was not till after the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle that 
his wise, prophetic admonitions were heeded, and his plans 
adopted. He also failed in an effort to obtain from the govern- 
ment compensation for his companions in the Tramontane ex- 
ploration. At length, owing, as his friends allege, to the in- 

* Heniug, iv. 32, 91. 



404 HISTORY OP THE COLONY AND 

trigues and envious whispers of men far inferior to him. in 
capacity and honesty, but according to others, on account of his 
high-handed encroachments on the rights of the colony, Spots- 
wood was displaced in 1722, and succeeded by Hugh Drysdale. 
Chalmers,* also a native of Scotland, and as extreme a sup- 
porter of prerogative, thus eulogizes Spotswood: "Having re- 
viewed the uninteresting conduct of the frivolous men who had 
ruled before him, the historian will dwell with pleasure on the 
merits of Spotswood. There was an utility in his designs, a 
vigor in his conduct, and an attachment to the true interest of the 
kingdom and the colony, which merit the greatest praise. Had 
he attended more to the courtly maxim of Charles the Second, 
'to quarrel with no man, however great might be the provoca- 
tion, since he knew not how soon he should be obliged to act 
with him,' that able officer might be recommended as the model 
of a provincial governor. The fabled heroes who had discovered 
the uses of the anvil and the axe, who introduced the labors of 
the plough, with the arts of the fisher, have been immortalized 
as the greatest benefactors of mankind; had Spotswood even 
invaded the privileges, while he only mortified the pride of the 
Virginians, they ought to have erected a statue to the memory 
of a ruler who gave them the manufacture of iron, and showed 
them by his active example that it is diligence and attention 
which can alone make a people great." 

Governor Spotswood was the author of an act for improving 
the staple of tobacco, and making tobacco-notes the medium of 
ordinary circulation. Being a master of the military art, he 
kept the militia of Virginia under admirable discipline. In 
Spotsylvania, Spotswood, previous to the year 1724, had founded, 
on a horseshoe peninsula of four hundred acres, on the Rapidan, 
the little town of Germanna, so called after the Germans sent 
over by Queen Anne, and settled in that quarter, and at this 
place he resided. A church was built there mainly at his ex- 
pense. In the year 1730 he was made deputy postmaster-general 
for the colonies, and held that office till 1789 ; and it was he who 
promoted Benjamin Franklin to the office of postmaster for the 

* Introduction, ii. 78. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 405 

Province of Pennsylvania. Owning an extensive tract of forty- 
five thousand acres of land, and finding it to abound in iron ore, 
he engaged largely in partnership with Mr. Robert Cary, of Eng- 
land, and others in Virginia, in the manufacture of it. He is 
styled by Colonel Byrd the "Tubal Cain of Virginia;" he was, 
indeed, the first person that ever established a regular furnace in 
North America, leading the way and setting the example to New 
England and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, at this period, was 
unable to export iron, OAving to the scarcity of ships, and made it 
only for domestic use. Spotswood expressed the hope that "he 
had done the country very great service by setting so good an 
example;" and stated "that the four furnaces now at work in 
Virginia circulated a great sum of money for provisions and all 
other necessaries in the adjacent counties ; that they took off a 
great number of hands from planting tobacco, and employed 
them in works that produced a large sum of money in England 
to the persons concerned, whereby the country is so much the 
richer; that they are besides a considerable advantage to Great 
Britain, because it lessens the quantity of bar iron imported from 
Spain, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, and Muscovy, which used to 
be no less than twenty thousand tons yearly, though, at the same 
time, no sow iron is imported thither from any country, but only 
from the plantations. For most of this bar iron they do not only 
pay silver, but our friends in the Baltic are so nice they even ex- 
pect to be paid all in crown pieces. On the contrary, all the iron 
they receive from the plantations, they pay for it in their own 
manufactures and send for it in their own shipping."* 

There was as yet no forge set up in Virginia for the manufac- 
ture of bar iron. The duty in England upon it was twenty-four 
shillings a ton, and it sold there for from ten to sixteen pounds 
per ton, which paid the cost of forging it abundantly ; but Spots- 
wood "doubted; the parliament of England would soon forbid us 
that improvement, lest after that we should go farther, and manu- 
facture our bars into all sorts of ironware, as they already do in 
New England and Pennsylvania. Nay, he questioned whether 

* Westover MSS., 132. 



406 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

we should be suffered to cast any iron which they can do them- 
selves at their furnaces." 

The whole expense was computed at two pounds per ton of 
sow, (or pig iron,) and it sold for five or six pounds in Eng- 
land, leaving a nett profit of three pounds or more on a ton. It 
was estimated that a furnace would cost seven hundred pounds. 
One hundred negroes were requisite, but on good land these, be- 
sides the furnace-work, would raise corn and provisions sufficient 
for themselves and the cattle. The people to be hired were a 
founder, a mine-raiser, a collier, a stock-taker, a clerk, a smith, 
a carpenter, a wheelwright, and some carters, these altogether 
involving an annual charge of five hundred pounds. 

At Massaponux, a plantation on the Rappahannock, belonging 
to Governor Spotswood, he had in operation an air-furnace for 
casting chimney-backs, andirons, fenders, plates for hearths, pots, 
mortars, rollers for gardeners, skillets, boxes for cart-wheels. 
These were sold at twenty shillings a ton and delivered at the 
purchaser's home, and being cast from the sow iron were much 
better than the English, which were made, for the most part, 
immediately from the ore. 

In 1732, besides Colonel Willis, the principal person of the 
place, there were at Fredericksburg only one merchant, a tailor, 
a blacksmith, and an ordinary keeper. 

The following advertisement is found in the "Virginia Gazette" 
for 1739: "Colonel Spotswood, intending next year to leave Vir- 
ginia with his family, hereby gives notice that he shall, in April 
next, dispose of a quantity of choice household furniture, to- 
gether with a coach, chariot, chaise, coach-horses, house-slaves, 
etc. And that the rich lands in Orange County, which he has 
hitherto reserved for his own seating, he now leases out for lives 
renewable till Christmas, 1775, admitting every tenant to the 
choice of his tenement, according to the priority of entry. / Ho 
further gives notice that he is ready to treat with any person 
of good credit for farming out, for twenty-one years, Germanna 
and its contiguous lands, with the stock thereon, and some slaves. 
As also for farming out, for the like term of years, an extraordi- 
nary grist-mill and bolting-mill, lately built by one of the best 
millwrights in America, and both going by water taken by a long 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 407 

race out of the Rapidan, together with six hundred acres of seated 
land adjoining the said mill. 

<l N. B. — The chariot (which has heen looked upon as one of 
the best made, handsomest, and easiest chariots in London,) is to 
be disposed of at any time, together with some other goods. No 
one will be received as a tenant who has not the character of an 
industrious man." 

Major-General Sir Alexander Spotswood, when on the eve of 
embarking with the troops destined for Carthagena, died at Anna- 
polis, on the 7th day of June, 1740. There is reason to believe 
that he lies buried at Temple Farm, his country residence near 
Yorktown, and so called from a sepulchral building erected by 
him in the garden there. It was in the dwelling-house at Temple 
Farm (called the Moore House) that Lord Cornwallis signed the 
capitulation. This spot, so associated with historical recollec- 
tions, is also highly picturesque in its situation.* 

Governor Spotswood left a historical account of Virginia during 
the period of his administration, and Mr. Bancroft had access to 
this valuable document, and refers to it in his history. f 

During the sanguinary war with the Indians in which North 
Carolina had been engaged, Governor Spotswood demanded of 
the tribes tributary to Virginia a number of the sons of their 
chiefs, to be sent to the College of William and Mary, where they 
served as hostages to preserve peace, and enjoyed the advantage 
of learning to read and write English, and were instructed in the 
Christian religion. But on returning to their own people they 
relapsed into idolatry and barbarism. J 

Governor Spotswood's long residence in Virginia, and the 
identity of his interests with those of the people of the colony, 
appear to have greatly changed his views of governmental prero- 
gative and popular rights, for during this year he gave it as his 
opinion that "if the assembly in New England would stand bluff, 

♦Bishop Meade's Old Churches, etc., 227. 

| This MS., after remaining long in the Spotswood family of Virginia, was at 
length communicated to an English gentleman then in this country, and it is 
supposed to be still in his possession in Europe. It is much to be regretted that 
there is no copy of it in Virginia. 

% Westover MSS., 30. 



408 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

he did not see how they could be forced to raise money against 
their will, for if they should direct it to be done by act of parlia- 
ment, which they have threatened to do, (though it be against the 
right of Englishmen to be taxed but by their representatives,) yet 
they would find it no easy matter to put such an act in execu- 
tion."* 

Governor Spotswood married, in 1724, Miss Butler Bryan, 
(pronounced Brain,) daughter of Richard Bryan, Esq., of West- 
minster, an English lady, whose Christian name was taken from 
James Butler, Duke of Ormond, her godfather. Their chil- 
dren were John and Robert, Anne Catherine and Dorothea. 
John Spotswood married, in 1745, Mary Dandridge, daughter of 
William Dandridge, of the British navy, Commander of the Lud- 
low Castle ship-of-war, and their children were two sons, General 
Alexander Spotswood and Captain John Spotswood of the army 
of the Revolution, and two daughters, Mary and Anne. Robert, 
the younger son of the governor, an officer under Washington in 
the French and Indian war, being detached with a scouting party 
from Fort Cumberland, (1756,) was supposed to have been killed 
by the Indians. He died without issue. f His remains were found 
near Fort Du Quesne; and in an elegiac poem published in 
"Martin's Miscellany," in London, the writer assumes that young 
Spotswood was slain by the savages. 

" Courageous youth ! were now thine honored sire 
To breathe again, and rouse his wonted ire, 
Nor French nor Shawnee dare his rage provoke, 
From great Potomac's spring to Roanoke. 

" May Forbes yet live the cruel debt to pay, 
And wash the blood of Braddock's field away; 
The fair Ohio's blushing waves may tell 
How Britons fought, and how each hero fell. "J 

Anne Catherine, the elder daughter of Governor Spotswood, 
married Bernard Moore, Esq., of Chelsea, in the County of 



* Westover MSS., 135. 
f Washington's Writings, ii. 239, 252. 

J Lossing's Field-Book of the Revolution, ii. 471. This work is a reservoir 
of valuable information. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 409 

King William. Dorothea, the other daughter, married Captain 
Nathaniel West Dandridge, of the British navy, son of Captain 
William Dandridge, of Elson Green.* 

The governor's lady surviving him, and continuing to live at 
Germanna, November the 9th, 1742, married second the Rev. 
John Thompson, of Culpepper County, a minister of exemplary 
character. From this union was descended the late Commodore 
Thompson of the United States navy. Lady Spotswood's chil- 
dren objected to the match on the ground of his inferior rank, so 
that after an engagement she requested to be released ; but he 
appears to have overcome her scruples by a curious letter ad- 
dressed to her on the subject. f 

The present representative of the family! is John Spottiswoode, 
Esq., M.P., Laird of Spottiswoode.§ His brothers are George 
Spottiswoode, of Gladswood, County Berwick, lieutenant-colonel 
in the army, and Andrew Spottiswoode, of Broom Hall, County 
Surrey. The representative of the family resides during the 
greater portion of the year at Spottiswoode, on his extensive 
hereditary estate, the modern mansion being one of the finest in 
Southern Scotland. The old mansion still remains. Thirty 
miles of underground drains have been made on this estate, re- 
claiming hundreds of acres of land lying between the Blackadder 
and the Leader. [| 

Governor Spotswood^" was half-brother to a General Elliott. 
The governor had a country-seat near Williamsburg, called 
Porto-Bello. Besides the portrait of him preserved at Chelsea, 



* Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Burke's Landed Gentry, ii., art. Spottis- 

WOOD. 

f See Hist, of St. George's Parish, by Rev. Philip Slaughter, 55, and Bishop 
Meade's Old Churches, etc., ii. 77. 

% 1852. 

\ Letter of Andrew Spottiswoode, Esq., written in 1852, to Rev. John B. 
Spotswood, of New Castle, Delaware. 

|| Beattie's Scotland Illustrated, i. 31. 

• \ : ■ ■ ( Governor Spotsicood. — Argent, a cheveron gules, between three oak- 
trees eradicate, vert. Supporters, two satyrs proper. Crest: an eagle displayed 
gules, looking to the sun in his splendor, proper. Motto: "Patior ut potiar." 
Chief seat: at the old Castle of Spotswood, in Berwickshire. — (Burke's Landed 
Gentry.) 



410 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

in the County of King William, there is another at the residence 
of William Spotswood, Esq., in Orange County, where there is 
also a portrait of Lady Spotswood, and one of General Elliott, 
half-brother of the governor, in complete armor. The descendants 
of Governor Spotswood in Virginia are numerous, and his memory 
is held in great respect. 



CHAPTER LIV. 

lT'Sa-17'26. 

Drysdale, Governor — Intemperance among the Clergy — The Rev. Mr. Lang's 
Testimony — Acts of Assembly — Death of Governor Drysdale — Colonel Robert 
Carter, President — Called King Carter — Notice of his Family. 

In the month of September, 1722, Hugh Drysdale assumed 
the administration of Virginia, amid the prosperity bequeathed 
him by his predecessor, and being a man of mediocre calibre, 
yielded to the current of the day, solicitous only to retain his 
place. Commissary Blair wished the governor, when a vacancy 
of more than six months occurred, to send and induct a minister 
as by law directed; but what Spotswood had not been bold 
enough to do, Drysdale feared to undertake without the authority 
of a royal order. Opinion is queen of the world. 

There were frequent complaints of the scandalous lives of some 
of the clergy ; but it was difficult to obtain positive proof, there 
being many who would cry out against such, and yet would not 
appear as witnesses to convict them. Intemperance appears to 
have been the predominant evil among the clergy, as it was also 
among the laity. 

The Rev. Mr. Lang, who was highly recommended by the gover- 
nor and commissary, wrote, in 1726, to the Bishop of London: 
"I observe the people here are very zealous for our holy church, as 
it is established in England, so that (except some few inconsidera- 
ble Quakers) there are scarce any dissenters from our commu- 
nion ; and yet, at the same time, the people are supinely ignorant 
in the very principles of religion, and very debauched in morals. 
This, I apprehend, is owing to the general neglect of the clergy 
in not taking pains to instruct youth in the fundamentals of reli- 
gion, or to examine people come to years of discretion, before 
they are permitted to come to church privileges." Referring to 
the prevailing evils he says: "The great cause of all which I 
humbly conceive to be in the clergy, the sober part being slothful 

(411) 



412 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

and negligent, and others so debauched that they are the fore- 
most and most bent on all manner of vices. Drunkenness is the 
common vice." Mr. Lang was minister of the parish of St. 
Peters, in New Kent County.* The religious instruction of the 
negroes was for the most part neglected. There were no schools 
for the education of the children of the common people; no par- 
ish libraries. 

The assembly was held from time to time, according to long 
established custom, by writ of prorogation ; the people being thus 
deprived of the right of frequent elections. An act regulating 
the importation of convicts was rejected by the board of trade. 
To relieve the people from a poll-tax a duty was laid on the im- 
portation of liquors and slaves, but owing to the opposition of 
the African Company and interested traders, the measure was 
repealed as an encroachment on the trade of England. 

Acts prohibiting the importation of negro slaves were repeat- 
edly passed by New York, Maryland, and South Carolina, and 
were invariably rejected in England. Governor Drysdale con- 
gratulated the Duke of Newcastle "that the benign influence of 
his auspicious sovereign was conspicuous here in a general har- 
mony and contentment among all ranks of persons." Hugh 
Drysdale dying in July, 1726, and Colonel Edmund Jennings, 
next in order of succession, being suspended, (for what cause does 
not appear,) Colonel Robert Carter succeeded as president of the 
council. This gentleman, owing to the extent of his landed pos- 
sessions, and to his being agent of Lord Fairfax, proprietary of 
a vast territory in the Northern Neck, between the Potomac and 
the Rappahannock, acquired the sobriquet of "King Carter." 
He was speaker of the house of burgesses for six years, treasurer 
of the colony, and for many years member of the council, and 
as president of that body he was at the head of the government 
upwards of a year. He lived at Corotoman, on the Rappahan- 
nock, in Lancaster County. Here a church was completed in the 
year 1670, under the direction of John Carter, first of the family 
in Virginia, who came over from England, 1649. A fine old 
church was built about 1732 by Robert Carter, on the site of the 

* Old Churches, i. 385. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 413 

former one, and is still in good preservation. He married first 
Judith Arrnistead, second a widow, whose maiden name was Betty 
Landon, of the ancient family of that name, of Grednal, in Here- 
ford County, England, by whom he left many children. His 
portrait and that of one of his wives, are preserved at Shirley, 
on James River, seat of Hill Carter, Esq.* The first John Car- 
ter was a member of the house of burgesses for Upper Norfolk 
County, now Nansemond, in 1649 and in 1654, and subsequently 
for Lancaster County. Colonel Edward Carter was, in 1658, 
burgess for Upper Norfolk, and in 1660 member of the council. 

* The Carter arms bear cart-wheels, vert. 



CHAPTER LV. 

lT'ST'-lT'-iO. 

William Gooch, Governor — The Dividing Line — Miscellaneous — Colonel Byrd's 
Opinion of New England — John Holloway — William Hopkins — Earl of Orkney 
— Expedition against Carthagena — Gooch commands the Virginia Regiment — 
Lawrence AVashington — Failure of attack on Carthagena — Georgia recruits 
Soldiers in Virginia to resist the Spaniards — Acts of Assembly — Printing 
in Virginia — In other Colonies — The Williamsburg Gazette — Miscellaneous 
Items — -Proceedings at opening of General Assembly — Sir John Randolph, 
Speaker — Governor Gooch's Speech — Richmond laid off — Captain William 
Byrd — Bacon Quarter — Colonel Byrd and others plan Richmond and Peters- 
burg in 1733 — Virginia Gazette — The Mails. 

In June, 1727, George the Second succeeded his father in the 
throne of England. About the middle of October, William 
Gooch, a native of Scotland, who had been an officer in the Brit- 
ish army, became Governor of Virginia. The council, without 
authority, allowed him three hundred pounds out of the royal 
quit-rents, and he in return resigned, in a great measure, the 
helm of government to them. Owing partly to this coalition, 
partly to a well-established revenue and a rigid economy, Virginia 
enjoyed prosperous repose during his long administration. There 
was at this time one Presbyterian congregation in Virginia, and 
preachers from the Philadelphia Synod visited the colony. 

During the year 1728 the boundary line between Virginia 
and North Carolina was run by Colonel Byrd and Messrs. Fitz- 
william and Dandridge, commissioners in behalf of Virginia, and 
others in behalf of North Carolina. "A History of the Divid- 
ing Line," by Colonel Byrd, has been published in a work enti- 
tled the "Westover MSS.;"* it contains graphic descriptions of 
the country passed through, its productions, and natural history. 
The author was a learned man and accurate observer. 

There remained in their native seat two hundred Nottoway 
Indians, the only tribe of any consequence surviving in Virginia. 

* By Edmund and Julian C. Ruffin, at Petersburg, 1841. 

(414) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 415 

There were also still remains of the Pamunkey trihe, but reduced 
to a small number, and intermixed in blood. The rest of the 
native tribes had either removed beyond the limits of the colony, 
or dwindled to a mere handful by war, disease, and intemperance. 
An act of parliament prohibiting the exportation of stripped or 
stemmed tobacco was complained of by the planters as causing a 
decline of the trade. They undertook to enhance the value by 
improving its quality, and in July, 1732, sent John Randolph to 
lay their complaint before the crown. 

With this accomplished and able man, afterwards knighted, 
and made attorney-general, Governor Spotswood was engaged in 
an angry personal controversy in the Williamsburg Cfazette. 
The merits of the dispute cannot now be ascertained. Spots- 
wood claims to have been Randolph's benefactor, and to have 
been the first to promote him in the world. 

Virginia, notwithstanding some obstacles in the way of her 
trade, continued to prosper, and from the year 1700 her popula- 
tion doubled in twenty-five years. The New England Colonies 
improved still more. Colonel Byrd said of them: "Though 
these people may be ridiculed for some Pharisaical particularities 
in their worship and behavior, yet they were very useful subjects, 
as being frugal and industrious, giving no scandal or bad exam- 
ple, at least by any open and public vices. By which excellent 
qualities they had much the advantage of the Southern Colony, 
who thought their being members of the established church suffi- 
cient to sanctify very loose and profligate morals. For this 
reason New England improved much faster than Virginia, and in 
seven or eight years New Plymouth, like Switzerland, seemed 
too narrow a territory for its inhabitants."* 

Boston, the principal town in the Anglo-American Colonies, 
founded in 1630, contained, in 1733, eight thousand houses and 
forty thousand inhabitants; and its shipping and trade were 
already extensive. 

In 1734 died John Holloway, Esq., who for thirty years had 
practised the law with great reputation and success. He was for 
fourteen years speaker of the house of burgesses, and eleven 

* Westover MSS., 4. 



416 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

years treasurer. A native of England, lie had first served as a 
clerk, then went into the army in Ireland early in the reign of 
King William the Third; next came to be one of the attorneys 
of the Marshalsea Court; afterwards turned projector, and being 
unfortunate, came over to Maryland, and thence removed to Vir- 
ginia. He is described by Sir John Randolph as more distin- 
guished for industry than for learning, and as relying more upon 
the subtle artifice of an attorney, than the solid reasoning of a law- 
yer. His opinions, however, were looked upon as authoritative; 
and clients thought themselves fortunate if they could engage his 
services upon any terms, and his fees were often exorbitant. He is 
portrayed by Sir John as haughty, passionate, and inhospitable; 
yet it seems difficult to reconcile this with his acknowledged 
popularity and predominant influence. In friendship he was 
sincere but inconstant. His management of the treasury con- 
tributed to the ruin of his fortune, and involved him in disgrace. 
But this account of him must be taken with allowance. 

About the same time died, in London, William Hopkins, Esq., 
another lawyer, who had practised in Virginia about twelve 
years. He was well educated, understanding Latin and French 
well, and gifted with a retentive memory, cpuick penetration, 
sound judgment, and a handsome person. In spite of some de- 
fects of manner, he acquired a large practice, which he neglected, 
owing to the versatility of a mind fond of various knowledge. 
In fees he was moderate, in argument candid and fair, never dis- 
puting plain points. He is taxed by Sir John Randolph with an 
overweening vanity, which made him jealous of any other stand- 
ing on a level with him ; but as there had been a personal falling 
out between them, his testimony in regard to this particular is 
entitled to the less weight. Mr. Hopkins appears to have been a 
man of high order; and his premature death, in the flower of his 
age, was a loss to be deplored by Virginia.* 

The Earl of Orkney died at his house in Albemarle Street, 
London, January, 1737, in the seventy-first year of his age. His 
titles were Earl of Orkney, one of the Sixteen Scottish Peers, 
Governor of Virginia, Constable, Governor and Captain of 

* Va. Hist. Rea;., i. 119. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 417 

Edinburgh Castle, Knight of the most ancient and most honora- 
ble order of the Thistle, one of his Majesty's Field Marshals, 
and Colonel of a regiment of foot. By his death his title be- 
came extinct. He left a very large fortune. 

During the administration of Governor Gooch, troops for 
the first time were transported from the colonies to co-operate 
with the forces of the mother country in offensive war. An 
attack upon Carthagena being determined on, Gooch raised 
four hundred men as Virginia's quota, and the assembly appro- 
priated five thousand pounds for their support. Major-General 
Sir Alexander Spotswood, who had been appointed to the com- 
mand of the troops raised in the colonies, consisting of a regi- 
ment of four battalions, dying at Annapolis, when on the eve of 
embarcation, Governor Gooch assumed command of the expedi- 
tion. The colonial troops joined those sent out from England, at 
Jamaica. The amount of Virginia's appropriation on this occa- 
sion exceeding the sum in the treasury, the remainder was bor- 
rowed from wealthy men, with a view to avoid the frauds of 
depreciation, and to secure the benefits of circulation. Lawrence 
Washington, half-brother of George, and fourteen years older, 
obtained a captain's commission in the newly-raised regiment, 
and, being now twenty years of age, embarked with it for the 
"West Indies in 1740.* An accomplished gentleman, educated 
in England, he acquired the esteem of General Wentworth 
and Admiral Vernon, the commanders of the British forces, and 
after the latter named his seat on the Potomac. The attack upon 
Carthagena was unsuccessful ; the ships not getting near enough 
to throw their shells into the town, and the scaling-ladders of the 
soldiers proving to be too short. That part of the attack in 
which Lawrence Washington was present, sustained, unflinching, a 
destructive fire for several hours. The small land force engaged 
on this occasion lost no less than six hundred killed and wounded. 

Shortly after the failure at Carthagena, an express from South 

* He took with him a number of his neighbors, who had thus an opportunity 
of seeing something of war. Some of these men, on their return, soon emi- 
grated to the Valley of Virginia, and afterwards were engaged in the Revolu- 
tion. Among them was John Grigsby, of Staiford, progenitor of the family of 
that name in Western Virginia. 

27 



418 HISTORY OF TIIE COLONY AND 

Carolina brought tidings that the Spaniards had made a descent 
upon Georgia; and Captain Dandridge, commander of the South 
Sea Castle, together with the "snows" Hawk and Swift, was dis- 
patched to the assistance of General Oglethorpe. The Spaniards 
were repulsed. Georgia being still threatened by a Spanish force 
concentrated at St. Augustine, in Florida, Oglethorpe sent Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Heron to recruit a regiment in Virginia. Cap- 
tain Lawrence Washington, with a number of officers and soldiers 
of Gooch's Carthagena Regiment, recently discharged, just now 
arriving at Hampton, and meeting with Heron, many of them 
enlisted again under him. 

About this time apprehensions were felt of foreign invasion by 
sea, of Indian incursions, and of servile insurrections. An act 
was passed to prevent excessive and deceitful gaming, making all 
gaming obligations void, imposing heavy penalties upon persons 
cheating at games, and declaring them infamous, authorizing jus- 
tices of the peace to bind common gamblers over to their good 
behavior. Means were adopted for encouraging adventurers in 
iron works. The towns of Fredericksburg and Falmouth were 
established at the head of tide-water, on the Rappahannock. 
Caroline County was formed, and Goochland carved out from 
Henrico. Long and elaborate acts were passed for amend- 
ing the staple of tobacco. The tending of seconds was pro- 
hibited; all tobacco exported to be inspected; to be exported 
from warehouses only; the planter to receive from the inspectors 
a promissory note specifying the quantity of tobacco deposited, 
and the quality, whether sweet-scented or Oronoko, stemmed or 
leaf; these tobacco-notes were made current within the county 
or other adjacent county. This salutary measure of making 
tobacco the basis of a currency was devised by Governor Spots- 
wood.* Tobacco-notes were still in use in Virginia at the be- 
ginning of the present century. In the year 1730 Prince "Wil- 
liam County was established. 

Sir William Berkley (1671) "thanked God that there were no 
free schools nor printing in Virginia." In 1682 John Buckner 
was called before the Lord Culpepper and his council for printing 

* Keith, 173. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 419 

the laws of 1880 without his excellency's license, and he and the 
printer ordered to enter into bond in one hundred pounds, not to 
print anything thereafter, until his majesty's pleasure should be 
known.* The earliest surviving evidence of printing done in 
Virginia is the edition of "The Revised Laws," published in 1733. 
In 1719 two newspapers were issued at Boston; in 1725 one at 
New York, and in the following year a printing-press was intro- 
duced into Maryland. One had been established at Cambridge, 
in Massachusetts, before 1647. A printing-press was first esta- 
blished in South Carolina, and a newspaper published in 1734. 
The first Virginia newspaper, "The Virginia Gazette," appeared 
at Williamsburg, in August, 1736, published, by William Parks, 
weekly, at fifteen shillings per annum. It was a small sheet, on 
dingy paper, but well printed. It was in the interest of the 
government, and for a long time the only journal of the colony. 
Parks printed "Stith's History of Virginia" and "The Laws of 
Virginia." 

In 1732, in accordance with royal instructions, a duty was laid 
of five per centum on the purchase-money of slaves, to be paid 
by the purchaser. The difference between sterling money and 
the ordinary currency was twenty per centum. Stealing of slaves 
was made felony, without benefit of clergy. 

The Nottoway Indians (1734) still possessed a large tract of 
land on the river of that name, in Isle of Wight County. They 
were much reduced by wars and disease, and were allowed to sell 
part of their lands for their better support. The tributary In- 
dians now speaking the English language, the use of interpreters 
was dispensed with. 

An act for regulating the fees of "the practisers in physic," 
recites that the practice is commonly in the hands of surgeons, 
apothecaries, or such as have only served apprenticeships to those 
trades, who often prove very unskilful, and yet demand excessive 
fees and prices for their medicines. 

The general assembly met at Williamsburg, in August, 1736, 
and sixty burgesses appearing, and it being the first session of 
this assembly, they were qualified by taking the oaths and sub- 

* Hening, ii. 518. 



420 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

scribing the test. The burgesses having attended the governor 
in the council-chamber, and having returned, in compliance with 
the governor's commands, a speaker was elected, and the choice 
fell upon Sir John Randolph. He being conducted to the chair 
by two members, made a speech to the house. On the next day 
the burgesses waited on the governor in the council-chamber 
again, and presented their new speaker to his honor, and the 
speaker made an address to the governor, giving a concise his- 
tory of the constitution of Virginia, from the first period of arbi- 
trary government and martial law to the charter granted by 
the Virginia Company, establishing an assembly, consisting of 
a council of state and a house of burgesses, which legislative con- 
stitution was confirmed by James the First, Charles the First, 
and their successors. Under it the house of burgesses claimed, as 
undoubted rights, freedom of speech, exemption from arrests, pro- 
tection of their estates, jurisdiction over their own body, and the 
sole right of determining all questions concerning elections. The 
speaker next eulogized the administration of Governor Gooch. 

The governor then addressed the gentlemen of the council, Mr. 
Speaker, and the gentlemen of the house of burgesses. He re- 
commended the better regulation of the militia for the preventing 
of servile insurrections, the danger of which was increased by the 
large importation of negroes; mentions that his majesty had been 
graciously pleased to confirm an act for the better support and 
encouragement of the College of William and Mary, and another 
facilitating the barring of entails of small value, to perpetuate 
which, in a new country like Virginia, could serve only to im- 
poverish the present possessor. Governor Gooch's reply closed 
this long scries of addresses.* 

The borough of Norfolk was incorporated in 1736. Sir John 
Randolph, Knight, was made recorder, although not a resident. f 

In the year 1737 the town of Richmond was laid off near the 
falls of James River, by Colonel William Byrd, of Westover, who 



* Va. Hist. Register, iv. 121, where a list of the members may be seen. 

f In the colony, residence was not necessary to render a candidate eligible to 
a seat in the house of burgesses The same practice continues to this day in 
England. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 421 

was proprietor of an extensive tract of land there. Shoccoe 
Warehouse had been already established there for a good many 
years. Fort Charles, called after the prince royal, afterwards 
Charles the Second, was erected (1645) at the falls of James 
River. A tract of land there, extending five miles in length and 
three in breadth, and lying on both sides of the river, was claimed 
(1679) by Captain William Byrd, father of the first Colonel Wil- 
liam By rd, of Westover.* This Captain Byrd was born in Lon- 
don about the year 1653, and came over to Virginia probably 
about 1674. He was a merchant and planter. His residence, 
appropriately named Belvidere, was on the north side of the 
river, opposite the falls. A large part of this land had, a few 
years before, belonged to Nathaniel Bacon, Jr. The names 
"Bacon Quarter" and "Bacon Quarter Branch," are still pre- 
served there. The word Quarter thus used, means land owned 
and cultivated, but not resided on — a place where servants are 
quartered, and is still in common use in the tobacco-growing 
counties. Captain Byrd had been active in bringing some of the 
rebels to punishment. Bacon's confiscated land at the falls, per- 
haps, may have been given to him in reward for his loyal services 
on that occasion. He was a burgess from Henrico. f His letter- 
book, containing letters from 1683 to 1691, is preserved in the 
library of the Virginia Historical Society. 

Colonel Byrd, second of the name, made a visit to his planta- 
tions on the Roanoke River, (1733,) accompanied by Major 
Mayo, Major Munford, Mr. Banister, and Mr. Peter Jones. 
While here, he says: "We laid the foundation of two large cities, 
one at Shoccoe's, to be called Richmond, and the other at the 
Point of Appomattox, to be called Petersburg. These Major 
Mayo offered to lay out in lots without fee or reward. The truth 
of it is these two places, being the uppermost landing of James 
and Appomattox Rivers, are naturally intended for marts where 
the traffic of the outer inhabitants must centre. Thus we did not 
build castles only, but cities in the air."! The following adver- 
tisement appeared in April, 1737, in "The Virginia Gazette:" 

* Hening, ii. 453. f Va. Hist Register, i. 61. 

I Westover MSS., 107. 



422 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

" This is to give notice that on the north side of James River, 
near the uppermost landing, and a little below the falls, is lately 
laid off by Major Mayo, a town called Richmond, with streets 
sixty-five feet wide, in a pleasant and healthy situation, and well 
supplied with springs and good Avater. It lies near the public 
warehouse at Shoccoe's, and in the midst of great quantities of 
grain and all kinds of provisions. The lots will be granted in fee 
simple on condition only of building a house in three years' time, 
of twenty-four by sixteen feet, fronting within five feet of the 
street. The lots to be rated according to the convenience of 
their situation, and to be sold after this April general court by 
me, William Byrd." Richmond is said to be named from Rich- 
mond, near London, or, as others think, from the Duke of Rich- 
mond, whom Byrd may have known in England; but this is less 
probable. 

Among the arrivals about this time is mentioned the ship 
Carter, with forty- four pipes of wine, "for gentlemen in this 
country;" and a ship arrived in the Potomac with a load of con- 
victs. The Hector man-of-war, Sir Yelverton Peyton commander, 
arrived in the James River from England, by way of Georgia, 
whither he had accompanied the Blandford man-of-war, and the 
transport-ships which conveyed General Oglethorpe and his regi- 
ment. Captain Dandridge is mentioned as commanding his 
majesty's ship Wolf. "Warner's Almanac" was advertised for 
sale. According to a new regulation adopted by the deputy 
postmaster-general, Spotswood, the mail from the north arrived 
at Williamsburg weekly, and William Parks, printer of "The 
Virginia Gazette," was commissioned to convey the mail monthly 
from Williamsburg, by way of Nansemond Court-house and Nor- 
folktown, to Edenton, in North Carolina. The general post-office 
was then at New Post, a few miles below Fredericksburg. 



CHAPTER LIV. 

Scotch-Irish Settlers— Death of Sir John Randolph— Settlement of the Valley of 
Shenandoah — Physical Geography of Virginia — John Lewis, a Pioneer in Au- 
gusta — Burden's Grant — First Settlers of llockbridge — Character of the 
Scotch-Irish — German Settlers of Valley of Shenandoah. 

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the disaffected and tur- 
bulent Province of Ulster, in Ireland, suffered pre eminently the 
ravages of civil war. Quieted for a time by the sword, insurrec- 
tion again burst forth in the second year of James the First, and 
repeated rebellions crushed in 1605, left a large tract of country 
desolate, and fast declining into barbarism. Almost the whole 
of six counties of Ulster thus, by forfeiture, fell into the hands 
of the king. A London company, under his auspices, colonized 
this unhappy district with settlers, partly English, principally 
Scotch — one of the few wise and salutary measures of his feeble 
reign. The descendants of these colonists of the plantation of 
Ulster, as it was now called, came to be distinguished by the 
name of Scotch-Irish. Archbishop Usher, who was disposed to 
reconcile the differences between the Presbyterians and Episco- 
palians, consented to a compromise of them, in consequence of 
which there was no formal separation from the established 
church. But it was not long before the persecutions of the 
house of Stuart, inflicted by the hands of Strafford and Laud, 
augmented the numbers of the non-conformists, riveted them 
more closely to their own political and religious principles, and 
compelled them to turn their eyes to America as a place of re- 
fuge for the oppressed. The civil war of England ensuing, they 
were for a time relieved from this necessity. Their unbending 
opposition to the proceedings of Cromwell drew down upon them 
(164!)) the sarcastic denunciation of Milton.* 

* Milton's Prose Works, i. 422, 430, 437. 

(423) 



424 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

The persecutions that followed the restoration (1679) and 
aftenvards, at length compelled the Scotch-Irish to seek refuge 
in the New World, and many of them came over from the north 
of Ireland, and settled in several of the colonies, especially in 
Pennsylvania. From thence a portion of them gradually mi- 
grated to the western parts of Virginia and North Carolina, 
inhabiting the frontier of civilization, and forming a barrier 
between the red men and the whites of the older settlements. 
The Scotch-Irish enjoyed entire freedom of religion, for which 
they were indebted to their remote situation.* The people of 
eastern, or old Virginia, were distinguished by the name of 
Tuckahoes, said to be derived from the name of a small stream; 
while the hardy mountaineers, west of the Blue Ridge, were 
styled Cohees, according to tradition, from their frequent use of 
the term "Quoth he," or "Quo-he." 

In the month of March, 1737, died the Honorable Sir John 
Randolph, Knight, speaker of the house of burgesses, treasurer 
of the colony, and representative for William and Mary College. 
He was interred in the chapel of the college, his body being 
borne there at his own request, by six honest, industrious, poor 
housekeepers, of Bruton Parish, who had twenty pounds divided 
among them. His funeral oration in Latin was pronounced by 
the Rev. Mr. Dawson, a professor in the college. Sir John was, 
at the time of his death, in his forty-fourth year. His father, 
William Randolph, a native of Warwickshire, England, came over 
to seek his fortunes in Virginia some time subsequent to the year 
1700. He was poor, and it is said, for a time "made his living 
by building barns." By industry, integrity, and good fortune, 
he acquired a large landed estate, and became a burgess for the 
County of Henrico. f On the maternal side, Sir John Randolph 
was descended from the Ishams, an ancient family of Northamp- 
tonshire, in England, which had emigrated to the colony. A 



* Foote's Sketches of North Carolina; Grahame, ii. 57; Davidson's Hist, of 
Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, 16. 

| Va. Convention of '76, by Hugh Blair Grigsby, 77, citing Carrington Me- 
moranda. Mr. Grigsby has given an interesting account of several of the dis- 
tinguished Randolphs in a newspaper article, entitled "The Dead of the Chapel 
of William and Mary." 






ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 425 

love of learning which he early evinced was improved by the 
tuition of a Protestant clergyman, a French refugee. His edu- 
cation was completed at William and Mary College, for which he 
retained a grateful attachment. He studied the law at Gray's 
Inn and the Temple; and, after assuming the barrister's gown, 
returned to Virginia, where he soon became distinguished at the 
bar. He was gifted with a handsome person, and a senatorial 
dignity. With extraordinary talents he united extensive learn- 
ing; in his writings he indulged rather too much the native luxu- 
riance of his genius. In his domestic relations he is described 
as exemplary; his income was ample, and his hospitality propor- 
tionate. Blessed with an excellent judgment, he filled his public 
stations with signal ability. He was buried in the chapel of 
William and Mary; and his elegant marble tablet, graced with a 
Latin inscription, after having endured one hundred and twenty- 
three years, was recently destroyed by the fire which consumed 
the college. Sir John Randolph was succeeded in the office of 
treasurer by John Robinson, Jr. 

From the preamble to the act for the better preservation of 
deer, it appears that in the upper country they were so numerous 
that they were killed (as buffalo often are in the far West) for their 
skins. They were shot while feeding on the moss growing on the 
rocks in the rivers; and their carcases attracted wolves and 
other wild beasts to the destruction of cattle, hogs, and sheep. 
Many deer were also killed by hounds running at large, and by 
fire-hunting, that is, by setting on fire, in large circles, the coverts 
where the deer lodged, which likewise destroyed the young tim- 
ber, and the food for cattle. 

From the settlement of Jamestown a century elapsed before 
Virginia began to extend her settlements to the foot of the Blue 

to o 

Ridge. Governor Spotswood (1716) explored those mountains 
beyond the head-springs of the confluents of the Rappahannock. 
After a good many years, Joist Hite, of Pennsylvania, obtained 
from the original patentees a warrant for forty thousand acres of 
land lying among the beautiful prairies at the northern or lower 
end of the valley of the Shenandoah. Hite, with his own and a 
number of other families, removed (1632) from Pennsylvania, and 
seated themselves on the banks of the Opeckon, a few miles south 



v 



426 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

of the site of Winchester. This handful of settlers could ven- 
ture more securely into this remote country, as coming from 
Pennsylvania, a province endeared to the Indians by the gentle 
and humane policy of its first founder, William Penn. Toward 
the Virginians — the "Long Knives" — the Indians bore an 
implacable hostility, and warmly opposed their settling in the 
valley.* 

In her physical geography Virginia is divided into four sec- 
tions: the first, the alluvial section, from the sea-coast to the 
head of tide-water; the second, the hilly, or undulating section, 
from the head of tide-water to the Blue Ridge; the third, the 
valley section, lying between the Blue Bidge and the Alleghanies; 
and the fourth, the Trans-AUeghany or western section, the 
waters of which empty into the Ohio. The mountains of Virgi- 
nia are arranged in ridges, one behind another, nearly parallel 
to the sea-coast, rather bending toward it to the northeast. 
The name Apalachian, borrowed from the country bordering on 
the Gulf of Mexico to the southwest, was applied to the moun- 
tains of Virginia in different ways, by the European maps; but 
none of these ridges was in fact ever known to the inhabitants of 
Virginia by that name. These mountains extend from northeast 
to southwest, as also do the limestone, coal, and other geological 
strata. So also range the falls of the principal rivers, the 
courses of which are at right angles with the line of the moun 
tains, the James and the Potomac making their way through all 
the ridges of mountains eastward of the Alleghany range. The 
Alleghanies are broken by no water-course, being the spine of 
the country between the Atlantic and the Mississippi River. The 
spectacle presented at Harper's Ferry — so called after the first 
settler — impresses the beholder with the opinion that the moun- 
tains were first upraised, the very signification of the word in the 
Greek, and the rivers began to flow afterwards; that here they 
were dammed up by the Blue Bidge, and thus formed a sea, or 
lake, filling the whole valley lying between that ridge and the 
Alleghanies. The waters continuing to rise, they at length burst 
their way through the mountain, the shattered fragments of this 

* De Hass's Hist, of Western Va., 37; Kerckeval, 70. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 427 

disruption still remaining to attest the fact. As the observer 
lifts his eye from this scene of grandeur, he catches through the 
fissure of the mountain a glimpse of the placid blue horizon in 
the distant perspective, inviting him, as it were, from the riot and 
tumult roaring around to pass through the breach and participate 
in the calm below.* 

A settlement was effected (1734) on the north branch of the 
Shenandoah, about twelve miles south of the present town of 
Woodstock. Other adventurers gradually extended the settle- 
ments, until they reached the tributaries of the Monongahela. 
Two cabins erected (1738) near the Shawnee Springs, formed the 
embryo of the town of Winchester, long the frontier out-post of 
the colony in that quarter. The glowing reports of the charms 
of the tramontane country induced other pioneers to plant them- 
selves in that wild, picturesque region. For the want of towns 
and roads the first settlers were supplied by pedlars who went 
from house to house. Shortly after the first settlement of Win- 
chester, John Marlin, a pedlar, who traded from Williamsburg to 
this new country, and John Sailing, a weaver, two adventurous 
spirits, set out from that place to explore the "upper country," 
then almost unknown. Proceeding up the valley of the Shenan- 
doah they crossed the James River, and had reached the Roan- 
oke River, when a party of Cherokees surprised them, and took 
Sailing prisoner, while Marlin escaped. Carried captive into 
Tennessee, Sailing remained with those Indians for several years, 
and became domesticated among them. While on a buffalo-hunt- 
ing excursion to the Salt Licks of Kentucky, a middle or debate- 
able ground of hunting and war, the Flanders of the Northern 
and Southern Indians, with a party of them, he was at length 
captured by a band of Illinois Indians. They carried him to 
Kaskaskia, where an old squaw adopted him for a son. Hence 
he accompanied the tribe on many distant expeditions, once as 
far as the Gulf of Mexico. But after two years the squaw sold 
him to some Spaniards from the Lower Mississippi, who wanted 
him as an interpreter. He was taken by them northward, and 
finally, after six years of captivity and wanderings through 

* Jefferson's Notes, 16. 



428 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

strange tribes and distant countries, he was ransomed by the Go- 
vernor of Canada, and transferred to New York. Thence he 
made his way to Williamsburg, in Virginia. About the same 
time a considerable number of immigrants had arrived there — 
among them John Lewis and John Mackey. Lewis was a native 
of Ireland. In an affray that occurred in the County of Dublin, 
with an oppressive landlord and his retainers, seeing a brother, 
an officer in the king's army, who lay sick at his house, slain be- 
fore his eyes, he slew one or two of the assailants. Escaping, he 
found refuge in Portugal, and after some years came over to Vir- 
ginia with his family, consisting of Margaret Lynn, daughter of 
the Laird of Loch Lynn, in Scotland, his wife, four sons, Thomas, 
William, Andrew, and Charles, and one daughter. Pleased with 
Sailing's glowing picture of the country beyond the mountains, 
Lewis and Mackey visited it under his guidance. Crossing the 
Blue Ridge and descending into the lovely valley beyond, where 
virgin nature reposes in all her native charms, the three deter- 
mined to fix their abode in that delightful region. Lewis selected 
a residence near the Middle River, on the border of a creek 
which yet bears his name, in what was denominated Beverley 
Manor; Mackey chose a spot farther up that river, near the 
Buffalo Gap; and Sailing built his log cabin fifty miles beyond, 
on a beautiful tract overshadowed by mountains in the forks of 
the James River.* John Lewis erected on the spot selected for 
his home a stone-house, still standing, an'd it came to be known 
as Lewis's Fort. It is a few miles from Staunton, of which town 
he was the founder. It is the oldest town in the valley. He 
obtained patents for a hundred thousand acres of land in different 
parts of the circumjacent country, and left an ample inheritance 
to his children. 

In the spring of 1736 John Lewis, the pioneer of Augusta, 
visiting Williamsburg, met there with Burden, who had recently 
come to Virginia as agent for Lord Fairfax, proprietor of the 
Northern Neck. Burden, in compliance with Lewis's invitation, 
visited him at his sequestered home in the backwoods; and the 
visit of several months was occupied in exploring the teeming 

* Ruffner, in Howe's Hist, Coll. of Va., 451. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 429 

beauties of the Eden-like valley, and in hunting, in company 
with Lewis and his sons, Samuel and Andrew. A captured buf- 
falo calf was given to Burden, and he, on returning to Lower 
Virginia, where that animal was not found, presented it to Go- 
vernor Gooch, who, thus propitiated, authorized him to locate five 
hundred thousand acres of land in the vast Counties of Frederick 
and Augusta, (formed two years thereafter,) on condition that within 
ten years he should settle one hundred families there, in which 
case he should be entitled to one thousand acres adjacent to 
every house, with the privilege of entering as much more at one 
shilling per acre. This grant covered one-half of what is now 
Rockbridge County, from the North Mountain to the Blue Ridge. 
The grantee was required to import and place on the land one 
settler for every thousand acres. For this purpose he brought 
over from England (1787) upwards of one hundred families from 
the north of Ireland, Scotland, and the border counties of Eng- 
land, and it is said that he resorted to stratagem to comply ap- 
parently with the conditions.* The first settlers of this Rock- 
bridge tract were Ephraim McDowell (ancestor of Governor 
James McDowell) and James Greenlee, in 1737. Mary Green- 
lee, his sister, attained the age of one hundred years and upwards, 
and was known to two or three generations. The Scotch-Irish 
retained much of the superstitious nature of the Highlanders of 
Scotland, and Mary Greenlee was by many believed to be a 
witch. At a very advanced age she rode erect on horseback. 
Robert and Archibald Alexander also settled in the Rockbridge 
region. Robert, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, taught 
the first classical school west of the Blue Ridge. Archibald, 
who was agent of Burden and drew up all his complex convey- 
ances, was grandfather of the Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander. 
Besides these, among the early settlers of this part of Virginia, 
were the families of Moore, Paxton, Telford, Lyle, Stuart, Craw- 
ford, Matthews, Brown, Wilson, Cummins, Caruthers, Campbell, 
McCampbell, McClung, McKee, McCue, Grigsby, and others. f 

* liuffner, ubi supra. 

f The Grigsbys, from whom is descended Hugh Blair Grigsby, removed into 
the valley from Eastern Virginia, having originally come into the colony at 
the time of the restoration. 



430 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

An austere, thoughtful race, they constituted a manly, virtuous 
population. Their remote situation secured to them religious 
freedom, but little interrupted by the ruling powers. Of the 
stern school of Calvin and Knox, so much derided for their 
Puritanical tenets, they were more distinguished for their simpli- 
city and integrity, their religious education, and their uniform 
attendance on the exercises and ordinances of religion, than for 
the graceful and courteous manners which lend a charm to the 
intercourse of a more aristocratic society. Trained in a severe 
discipline, they expressed less th?n they felt; and keeping their 
feelings under habitual restraint, they could call forth exertions 
equal to whatever exigencies might arise. In the wilderness they 
devoted themselves to agriculture, domestic pursuits, and the arts 
of peace; they were content to live at home. Pascal says that 
the cause of most of the trouble in the world is that people are 
not content to live at home. As soon as practicable they erected 
churches; and all within ten or twelve miles, young and old, re- 
paired on horseback to the place of worship. Their social inter- 
course was chiefly at religious meetings. The gay and fashiona- 
ble amusements of Eastern Virginia were unknown among them.* 
Other colonies, emanating from the same quarters, followed the 
first, and settled that portion of the valley intervening between 
the German settlements and the borders of the James River. 
The first Presbyterian minister settled west of the Blue Ridge 
was the Rev. John Craig, a native of the north of Ireland. His 
congregation was that of the church then known as the Stone 
Meeting House, since Augusta Church, near Staunton, in the 
County of Augusta. He became pastor there in the year 1740. 
Augusta was then a wilderness with a handful of Christian set- 
tlers in it; the Indians travelling through the country among 
them in small parties, unless supplied with whatever victuals 
they called for, became their own purveyors and cooks, and 
spared nothing that they chose to eat or drink. In general 
they were harmless; sometimes they committed murders. Such 
was the school in which the tramontane population were to be 
moulded and trained, civilizing the wilderness, and defending 

* Ruffner. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 431 

themselves against the savages. In the month of December, 
1743, Captain John McDowell, surveyor of the lands in Burden's 
grant, falling into an ambush, was slain, together with eight com- 
rades, in a skirmish with a party of Shawnee Indians. This 
occurred at the junction of the North River with the James. 
The alarmed inhabitants of Timber-ridge* hastened to the spot, 
and, removing the dead bodies, sorrowfully performed the rites of 
burial, while the savages, frightened at their own success, escaped 
beyond the mountains. 

So rapid was the settlement of the valley about this time, that 
in this year it was found necessary to lay off the whole country 
west of the Blue Ridge into the two new counties, Frederick and 
Augusta. The picturesque and verdant valleys embosomed 
among the mountains were gradually dotted with farms. The 
fertile County of Frederick was first settled by Germans, 
Quakers, and Irish Presbyterians, from the adjoining province of 
Pennsylvania. A great part of the country lying between the 
North Mountain and the Shenandoah River, for one hundred and 
fifty miles, and embracing ten counties, now adorned with fine 
forest trees, was then an extensive open prairie — a sea of herb- 
age — the pasture ground of buffalo, elk, and deer. It was a 
favorite hunting-ground, or middle ground of the Indians. f The 
rich lands bordering the Shenandoah, and its north and south 
branches, were settled by a German population which long 
retained its language, its simplicity of manners and dress. 
Augusta County was settled by Scotch-Irish from Pennsylvania, 
(descendants of the Covenanters,) a race respectable for intelli- 
gence, energy, morality, and piety. 

In compliance with the petition of John Caldwell and others, 
the synod of Philadelphia (1738) addressed a letter to Governor 
Gooch, soliciting his favor in behalf of such persons as should 
remove to Western Virginia, in allowing them "the free enjoyment 
of their civil and religious liberties;" and the governor gave a 
favorable answer. This John Caldwell, who was grandfather of 

* So called, being a high strip of timber in an open prairie, at the first settle- 
ment. 

f Kerchcval's Hist, of the Valley of Virginia, 69; Foote's Sketches, second 
series, 14. 



432 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIKGINIA. 

John Caldwell Calhoun, of South Carolina, led the way in colo- 
nizing Prince Edward, Charlotte, and Campbell Counties. 

Colonel James Patton, of Donegal, a man of property, com- 
mander and owner of a ship, emigrating to Virginia about this 
time, obtained from the governor, for himself and his associates, 
a grant of one hundred and twenty thousand acres of land in the 
valley. He settled on the south fork of the Shenandoah. John 
Preston, a shipmaster in Dublin, a brother-in-law of Patton, came 
over with him, and subsequently established himself near Staun- 
ton — the progenitor of a distinguished race of his own name, and 
of the Browns and Breckenridges.* While the first settlement 
of the valley took place in Hite's patent, nearer to Pennsylvania, 
the filling up of that region was somewhat retarded by a claim 
which Lord Fairfax set up for a region westward of the Blue 
Pudge, comprehending ten counties. This claim was grounded 
upon the terms of the conveyance which included all the country 
between the head of the Rappahannock and the head of the Po- 
tomac; and this river was found to have its source in the Alle- 
ghanies. Although the claim was not admitted by the Governor 
of Virginia, yet, as it involved settlers in the danger of a law- 
suit, they preferred moving farther on to the tract of country 
in Augusta County, included in the grants to Beverley and to 
Burden. 

* Foote's Sketches, ii. 36. 



CHAPTER LVII. 

Treaty with the Six Nations — Death and Character of Rev. James Blair — Colonel 
William Byrd — The Pretender's Rebellion — Governor Gooch — Dissent in Vir- 
ginia — Whitefield — Origin of Presbyterianism in Hanover — Morris — Mission- 
aries — Rev. Samuel Davies — Gooch's Measures against Moravians, New Lights, 
and Methodists. 

In 1742 an act was passed to prevent lawyers from exacting 
or receiving exorbitant fees. In this year the town of Richmond 
was established by law, and the County of Louisa formed from a 
part of Hanover. 

Governor Spotswood had effected a treaty (1722) with the Six 
Nations, by which they stipulated never to appear to the east of 
the Blue Ridge, nor south of the Potomac. As the Anglo-Saxon 
race gradually extended itself, like a vapor, beyond the western 
base of that range, collisions with the native tribes began to 
ensue. A treaty was concluded (July, 1744,) at Lancaster, in 
Pennsylvania, by which the Six Nations unwillingly relinquished, 
for four hundred pounds paid, and a further sum promised, 
the country lying westward of the frontier of Virginia to the 
River Ohio. The tomahawk was again buried, and the wampum 
belts of peace again delivered, to brighten the silver chain of 
friendship. The Virginia commissioners were men of high cha- 
racter, but they negotiated with the red men according to the 
custom of that day, and regaled them with punch, wine, and 
bumbo — that is, rum and water. The consideration apparently 
so inadequate, was yet perhaps equivalent to the value of their 
title and the fidelity of their pledge. The expense of this treaty 
was paid out of the royal quit-rents. 

The Rev. Anthony Gavin, a zealous minister of St. James's 
Parish, Goochland, (1738,) complains to the Bishop of London 
of difficulties with Quakers, who were countenanced by men in 
1 1 1 _r 1 1 station, and of the disregard of Episcopal control in Vir- 
ginia,, the cognizance of spiritual affairs, by the laws of the colony, 

28 (433) 



434 HISTORY OF THE COLONY ANE 

being in the hands of the governor and council, and that the 
greatest part of the ministers " are taken up in farming, and buy- 
ing slaves." The ministers were compelled either to hire or buy 
slaves to cultivate their glebes, on which they depended for a 
livelihood.* The Rev. Mr. Gavin, besides his regular duties, 
appears to have performed a sort of missionary service, making 
distant journeys as far as to the country near the Blue Ridge. 

Robert Dinwiddie having been appointed (1741) surveyor- 
general of the customs, was named, as his predecessors had been, 
a member of the several councils of the colonies. Gooch readily 
complied with the royal order, but the council, prompted both by 
jealousy of Dinwiddie's functions and by an aristocratic exclu- 
siveness, refused to allow him to act with them, and sent the king 
a remonstrance against it. The board of trade decided the case 
in Dinwiddie's favor. We may see in this affair the germ of that 
mutual jealousy which afterwards grew up between him and some 
of the leading characters in Virginia. 

In the year 1743 died Edward Barradall, Esq., an eminent 
lawyer ; he held the office of attorney-general, judge of the ad- 
miralty court, and other high posts. He married Sarah, daughter 
of the Honorable William Fitzhugh. He was buried in the 
churchyard in Williamsburg, where a Latin epitaph records his 
worth. 

In the same year died the Rev. James Blair, Commissary to 
the Bishop of London. Finding his ministry in Scotland ob- 
structed by popular prejudice, he retired to London, whence he 
was sent over to Virginia as a missionary, (1685.) He was minis- 
ter for Henrico Parish nine years; in 1689 was appointed com- 
missary. From Henrico he removed to Jamestown, in order to 
be near the college, which he was raising up. He became (1710) 
the minister of Bruton Parish, and resided at Williamsburg. 
He was a minister in Virginia for about fifty-eight years, commis- 
sary for fifty-four years, and president of the college fifty years. 
His sermons, one hundred and seventeen in number, expository 
of the Sermon on the Mount, were published in England, (1722,) 
and passed through two editions. They are highly commended 

* Bishop Meade's Old Churches, etc., i. 456. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 435 

by Dr. Waterland and Dr. Doddridge. Dr. Blair appears to 
have been a plain-spoken preacher, who had the courage to speak 
the truth to an aristocratic congregation. Alluding in one of 
these sermons to the custom of swearing, he says: "I know of 
no vice that brings more scandal to our Church of England. The 
church may be in danger from many enemies, but perhaps she is 
not so much in danger from any as from the great number of 
profane persons that pretend to be of her, enough to make all 
serious people afraid of our society, and to bring down the judg- 
ments of God upon us : 'by reason of swearing the land mourneth.' 
But be not deceived: our church has no principles that lead to 
swearing more than the Dissenters ; but whatever church is upper- 
most, there are always a great many who, having no religion at 
all, crowd into it, and bring it into disgrace and disreputation." 
Commissary Blair left his library and five hundred pounds to the 
college of which he was the founder, and ten thousand pounds to 
his nephew, John Blair, and his children.* Commissary Blair 
was alike eminent for energy, learning, talents, piety, and a 
catholic spirit; he was a sincere lover of Virginia and her bene- 
factor; his name is identified with her history, and his memory 
deserves to be held in enduring respect and veneration. 

In November, 1743, William Fairfax, son of Lord Fairfax, 
proprietor of the Northern Neck, was appointed one of the coun- 
cil in the place of Dr. Blair. The Rev. William Dawson suc- 
ceeded him as president of the College of William and Mary, and 
as commissaiy. 

About this time also died Colonel William Byrd, of Westover, 
second of the name, one of the council. A vast fortune enabled 
him to live in a style of hospitable splendor before unknown in 
Virginia. His extensive learning was improved by a keen obser- 
vation, and refined by an acquaintance and correspondence with 
the wits and noblemen of his day in England. His writings dis- 
play a thorough knowledge of the natural and civil history of the 
colony, and abound in photographic sketches of the manners of 
his age. His diffuse style is relieved by frequent ebullitions of 
humor, which, according to the spirit of his times, is often coarse 

* Old Churches, i. 154, 1G5; Evang. and Lit. Mag., ii. 341. 



436 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

and indelicate. His sarcasm is sometimes unjust, and his ridicule 
frequently misplaced, yet his writings are among the most valu- 
able that have descended from his era, and to him is due the 
honor of having contributed more perhaps to the preservation of 
the historical materials of Virginia than any other of her sons, 
by the purchase of the Records of the Virginia Company. He 
lies buried in the garden at Westover, where a marble monument 
bears the following inscription: "Here lieth the Honorable Wil- 
liam Byrd, Esq. Being born to one of the amplest fortunes in 
this country, he was sent early to England for his education, 
where, under the care and direction of Sir Robert Southwell, and 
ever favored with his particular instructions, he made a happy 
proficiency in polite and various learning. By the means of the 
same noble friend he was introduced to the acquaintance of many 
of the first persons of that age for knowledge, wit, virtue, birth, 
or high station, and particularly contracted a most intimate and 
bosom friendship,with the learned and illustrious Charles Boyle, 
Earl of Orrery. He was called to the bar in the Middle Temple; 
studied for some time in the Low Countries; visited the court of 
France, and was chosen Fellow of the Royal Society. Thus 
eminently fitted for the service and ornament of his country, he 
was made receiver-general of his majesty's revenues here; was 
thrice appointed public agent to the court and ministry of Eng- 
land; and being thirty-seven years a member, at last became 
president of the council of this colony. To all this were added 
a great elegancy of taste and life, the well-bred gentleman and 
polite companion, the splendid economist, and prudent father of 
a family, withal the constant enemy of all exorbitant power, and 
hearty friend to the liberties of his country. Nat. Mar. 28, 1674. 
Mort. Aug. 26, 1744. An. iEtat. 70." His portrait, a fine 
face, is preserved. Colonel Byrd amassed the finest private 
library which had then been seen in the New World, a catalogue 
of which, in quarto, is preserved in the Franklin Library, Phila- 
delphia. Sir Robert Southwell was envoy extraordinary to Por- 
tugal in 1665, and to Brussels in 1671 ; was subsequently clerk 
of the privy council, and was repeatedly chosen president of the 
Royal Society. He died in 1702. 

France, endeavoring to impose a popish pretender of the house 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 437 

of Stuart upon the people of England, the colonies were advised 
to put themselves in readiness against the threatened hlow. Ac- 
cordingly in the following year the assembly met, but still ad- 
hering to a rigid economy, the burgesses refused to make any 
appropriation of money for that purpose. About this time Ed- 
ward Trelawney, governor of Jamaica, was authorized to recruit 
a regiment in Virginia. In 1745 a rebellion burst forth in Scot- 
land in favor of the Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, grandson 
of James the Second. When intelligence of this event reached 
Virginia, the assembly was again called together, and the college, 
the clergy, and the assembly, unanimously pledged their private 
resources and those of the colony to support the house of Han- 
over. A proclamation was also issued against Romish priests, 
sent, it was alleged, as emissaries from Maryland, to seduce the 
people of Virginia from their allegiance. The tidings of the 
overthrow of the Pretender by the Duke of Cumberland, at 
Culloden, on the 16th of April, 1746, were joyfully received 
in the Ancient Dominion, and celebrated by burning the effigies 
of the unfortunate prince, and by bonfires, processions, and 
illuminations. 

About this time the Rev. William Stith was engaged in com- 
posing his "History of Virginia," at Varina, on the James River. 
It is much to be regretted that this accurate, judicious, and faith- 
ful writer did not receive encouragement to complete the work 
down to his own times. 

In May, 1746, the assembly appropriated four thousand pounds 
to the raising of Virginia's quota of troops for the invasion of 
Canada. They sailed from Hampton in June, under convoy of 
the Fowey man-of-war; the expedition proved abortive. Gover- 
nor Gooch, who had been appointed commander, but had declined 
the" appointment, was knighted during this year. Not long after- 
wards the capitol at Williamsburg was burnt, and the burgesses 
availed themselves of this conjuncture to propose the establish- 
ment of the metropolis at a point more favorable to commerce; 
but this scheme was rejected by the council. Governor Gooch, 
on this occasion, appears to have exhibited some duplicity : in his 
communications to the board of trade he extolled the enlarged 
views of the burgesses, while he censured the selfishness of the 



438 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

council; yet in public he blamed the burgesses, "as he thought 
this the best method to stifle the flame of contention." In this 
case he would seem not to have reckoned "honesty the best 
policy;" and it often is not, else there would perhaps be more of 
it in the world; but it is certainly always better than policy. 

In the year 1748 Petersburg and Blandford were incorporated. 
In the same year the town of Staunton, in Augusta County, was 
laid off, and it was incorporated in the following year. This hap- 
pened to be one of the acts repealed by the crown under subse- 
quent protest of the house of burgesses ; and another act of in- 
corporation was not applied for until about 1762-63. Hence 
originated a mistake in all the histories as to the date of the 
charter.* Staunton thus appears to be the oldest town in the 
valley. 

The assembly appointed a committee to revise the laws of Vir- 
ginia; it consisted of Peyton Randolph, Philip Ludwell, Beverley 
Whiting, Carter Burwell, and Benjamin Waller. During this 
year the vestries were authorized to make presentation to bene- 
fices, an act which Bishop Sherlock complained of as a serious 
encroachment on the rights of the crown. 

Dissent from the established church began to develope itself in 
Virginia. In 1740 the celebrated Whitefield, then about twenty- 
six years of age, preached at Williamsburg, by the invitation of 
Commissary Blair. The extraordinary religious excitement which 
took place at this time in America, and which was increased by the 
impassioned eloquence of Whitefield, was styled " the New Light 
Stir." It produced a temporary schism in the American Presby- 
terian Church, and the two parties were known as Old Side and 
New Side. The Synod of Philadelphia was Old Side; the Pres- 
byteries of New Castle, New Brunswick, and New York, New 
Side. The preachers of the New Side were often styled "New 
Lights." A hundred years before, the Presbyterians of Ireland 
denounced the sectarian (or Cromwell) party of England, as those 
who "vilify public ordinances, speak evil of church government, 



* Letter from Bolivar Christian, Esq., of Staunton, referring to the records of 
Augusta. 



ANCIENT DOxMINION OF VIRGINIA. 439 

and invent damnable errors, under the specious pretence of a 
gospel-way and new light."* 

Between the years 1740 and 1743 a few families of Hanover 
County, in Lower Virginia, withdrawing themselves from attend- 
ance at the services of the established church, were accustomed 
to meet for worship at the house of Samuel Morris, the zealous 
leader of this little company of dissenters. One of these, a 
planter, had been first aroused by a few leaves of "Boston's 
Fourfold State," that fell into his hands. Morris, an obscure 
man, a bricklayer, of singular simplicity of character, sincere, 
devout, earnest, was in the habit of reading to his neighbors from 
a few favorite religious works, particularly "Luther on the Gala- 
tians," and his "Table-Talk," with the view of communicating to 
others impressions that had been made on himself. Having 
(1743) come into possession of a volume of Whitefield's Sermons, 
preached at Glasgow, he commenced reading them to his audi- 
ence, who met to hear them on Sunday and on other days. The 
concern of some of the hearers on these occasions was such that 
they cried out and wept bitterly. Morris's dwelling-house being 
too small to contain his increasing congregation, it was deter- 
mined to build a meeting-house merely for reading, and it came 
to be called "Morris's Reading-Room." None of them being in 
the habit of extemporaneous prayer no one dared to undertake it. 
Morris was soon invited to read these sermons in other parts of 
the country, and thus other reading-houses were established. 
Those who frequented them were fined for absenting themselves 
from church, and Morris himself often incurred this penalty. 
When called on by the general court to declare to what denomi- 
nation they belonged, these unsophisticated dissenters, knowing 
little of any such except the Quakers,-and not knowing what else 
to call themselves, assumed for the present the name of Lutherans, 
(unaware that this appellation had been appropriated by any 
others,) but shortly afterwards they relinquished that nanie.f 

* Milton's Prose Works, i. 423. 

f Memoir of Samuel Davies, in Evang. and Lit. Mag., (edited by Rev. Dr. 
John II. Rice,) ii. 113, 186, 201, 330, 353, 474. "Origin of Presbyteriauism," 
ib., 346. " Sketch of Hist, of the Church in Va," (by Rev. Moses Hoge, Presi- 
dent of Hampden Sidney College,) appended to J. W. Campbell's Hist, of Va., 



440 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Partaking in the religious excitement which then pervaded the 
colonies, limited in information and in the means of obtaining it, 
these unorganized dissenters became bewildered by discordant 
opinions. Some of them seemed to be verging toward antino- 
mianism ; and it came to be a question among them whether it 
was right to pray, since prayer could not alter the Divine pur- 
poses, and it might be impious to desire that it should. At 
length, Morris and some of his associates were summoned to 
appear before the governor and council at Williamsburg. Having 
discarded the name of Lutherans, and not knowing what to call 
themselves, they were filled with apprehensions in the prospect 
of the interview. One of them making the journey to Williams- 
burg alone, met with, at a house on the way, an old Scotch Pres- 
byterian "Confession of Faith," which he recognized as embody- 
ing his own creed. The book being given to him, upon rejoining 
his friends at Williamsburg they examined it together, and they 
determined to adopt it as their confession of faith. When called 
before the governor and council and interrogated, they exhibited 
the book as containing their creed. Gooch, being a Scotchman, 
and, as is said, having been educated a Presbyterian, immediately 
remarked, on seeing the book, "These men are Presbyterians," 
and recognized their right to the privileges of the toleration act. 
The interview between the governor and council and Morris and 
his friends, was interrupted by a thunder-storm of extraordinary 
fury; the council was softened; and this was one of a series of 
incidents which Morris and his companions looked upon as provi- 
dentially instrumental in bringing about the favorable issue of 
this affair. 

The Rev. William Robinson, a Presbyterian, was the first 
minister, not of the Church of England, that preached in Han- 
over. The son of a Quaker physician near Carlyle, in England, 
he emigrated to America, and (1743) sent out by the Presbytery 
of New Brunswick, visited the frontier settlements of Virginia 
and North Carolina. Near Winchester he was apprehended by 



290; Hawks, chap. 6; Burk, iii. 110: Hodge's Hist, of Presbyterian Church, 
part ii. 42, 284; Foote's Sketches of Va., 119. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 411 

the sheriff, to be sent to the governor to answer for preaching 
without license, but the sheriff soon released him. He preached 
among the Scotch-Irish settlers of Charlotte, Prince Edward, 
Campbell, and Albemarle, and in Charlotte established a congre- 
gation. Overtaken at Rock fish Gap by a deputation from Han- 
over, he was induced to return and visit that county, and he 
preached for some days to large congregations, some of his 
hearers publicly giving utterance to their emotions, and many 
being converted. Before his departure he corrected some of the 
errors into which the dissenters had fallen, and taught them to 
conduct public worship with better order, prayer and singing 
being now introduced, so that "he brought them into some kind 
of church order on the Presbyterian model."* He was followed 
shortly afterwards by the Rev. John Blair, whose preaching was 
equally impressive. Another missionary, the Rev. John Roan, 
from the New Castle Presbytery, preached to crowded congrega- 
tions there and in the neighboring counties. The consequent 
excitement, and his speaking freely in public and in private of 
the delinquency of the parish ministers, and his denouncing them 
with unsparing invective, in spite of reproaches, ridicule, and 
threats, gave alarm to them and their supporters, and measures 
were concerted to arrest the inroads of these offensive innovations. 
To aggravate the indignation of the government a witness swore 
"that he heard Mr. Roan utter blasphemous expressions in his 
sermons," preached at the house of Joshua Morris, in James City 
County. 

At the meeting of the general court in April, Governor Gooch, 
in his charge to the grand jury, denounced, in strong terms, 
"certain false teachers lately crept into this government, who, 
without order or license, or producing any testimonial of their 
education or sect, professing themselves ministers under the pre- 
tended influence of new light, extraordinary impulse, and such 
like satirical [sic] and enthusiastic knowledge, lead the innocent 
and ignorant people into all kinds of delusion." He even sus- 
pected them to be Romish emissaries, saying, "their religious 
professions are very justly suspected to be the result of jesuiti- 

* Evang. and Lit. Mag., ii. 351. 



442 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

cal policy, which also is an iniquity to be punished by the 
judges." He calls upon the jury to present and indict these 
offenders. On the next day the jury presented John Roan for 
"reflecting upon and vilifying the established religion," and 
Thomas Watkins, of Henrico County, for saying "your churches 
and chapels are no better than the synagogues of Satan," and 
Joshua Morris, "for permitting John Roan, the aforementioned 
preacher, and very many people, to assemble in an unlawful 
manner at his house on the seventh, eighth, and ninth of January 
last past." 

The intolerant spirit of the government continuing unabated, 
the Conjunct Presbyteries of New Castle and New Brunswick, at 
the instance of Morris and some of his friends, who were appre- 
hensive of severe measures being adopted against them, sent an 
address in their behalf to Governor Gooch, by two clergymen, 
Gilbert Tennent and Samuel Finley. They were respectfully re- 
ceived, and allowed to preach in Hanover, where they remained 
for a week. 

The Synod of Philadelphia being now apprehensive that their 
congregations in the valley of Virginia might also be involved in 
the penalties threatened by the governor, in May, 1745, in an 
address to him, disclaimed all connection with the Presbytery of 
New Castle, which had commissioned Mr. Roan, and expressed 
their deep regret that any who assume the name of Presbyterians 
should be guilty of conduct so uncharitable and so unchristian as 
that mentioned in his honor's charge to the grand jury; and 
they assure him that these persons never belonged to their body, 
but were missionaries sent out by some who, in May, 1741, had 
been excluded from the Synod of Philadelphia by reason of 
their divisive and uncharitable doctrines and practices, and 
whose object was, in a spirit of rivalry, "to divide and trouble 
the churches." To this address Gooch made a very kind and 
respectful reply. 

In the summer of the ensuing year he issued a proclamation 
against the Moravians, New Lights, and Methodists, prohibiting 
their meetings under severe penalties. There would seem to be 
some inconsistency in bringing such harsh and sweeping charges 
against those ministers whom he had recently received so cour- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 443 

teously, and had permitted to preach. Perhaps when he at first 
reckoned the visits of these missionaries transient, and their in- 
fluence inconsiderable, he was willing to indulge his courtesy and 
obliging disposition toward them; but when dissent was found 
spreading with such unexpected rapidity, Gooch, together with 
the clergy and other friends of the establishment, became alarmed, 
and had recourse to measures of intolerance, which they would 
rather have avoided. Besides this, the address of the Synod of 
Philadelphia could not but confirm the unfavorable opinion at 
first formed of the missionaries. 



CHAPTER LVIII. 

Statistics of Virginia' — Whitefield — Davies — Conduct of the Government toward 
Dissenters — Resignation of Governor Gooch — His Character — The People of 
the Valley and of Eastern Virginia — John Robinson, Sr., President — Richard 
Lee, President — Earl of Albemarle, Governor-in-Chief — Lewis Burwell, Presi- 
dent — Population of the Colonies. 

From Bowen's Geography, published at London in 1747, the 
following particulars are gathered: in 1710 the total population 
of Virginia was estimated to be 70,000, and in 1747 at between 
100,000 and 140,000. The number of burgesses was 52. Of 
the fifty-four parishes, thirty or forty were supplied. The twelve 
vestrymen having the presentation of ministers were styled "the 
patrons of the church." The governor's salary, together with 
perquisites, amounted to three thousand pounds per annum. The 
president of the council acting as governor received a salary of 
five hundred pounds, and also a small amount paid him as a coun- 
cillor. The professors of William and Mary College, when they 
began with experiments on plants and minerals, were assisted by 
the French refugees at Manakintown. Dr. Bray procured con- 
tributions of books for the library.* 

Sweet-scented tobacco, the most valuable in the world, was 
found in the strip of country between the York and the James. 
The number of hogsheads of tobacco shipped from Virginia 
and Maryland together annually was 70,000, of which half 
was consumed in England, and half exported to other countries. 

* The value of coins in Virginia was : — 
£ 
Spanish double doubloons.. 3 

Doubloons 1 

Pistole 

Arabian Chequin 

All English coins at the same value as in England 

(444) 



B. 


d. 




£ 


s. 


d. 


10 


00 







5 


00 


15 


00 







5 


00 


17 


06 







5 


00 


10 


00 











ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 445 

This trade employed two hundred ships, and yielded his majesty's 
treasury a revenue of upwards of X300,000, in time of peace. 
Jamestown at this time contained several hrick houses, with sun- 
dry taverns and eating-houses, — sixty or seventy houses in all. 
Williamsburg or Williamstadt contained twenty or thirty houses. 
There was a fort or battery erected there mounting ten or twelve 
guns. Governor Nicholson caused several streets to be laid out in 
the form of a W, in honor of King William the Third, but a V or 
one angle of it was not as yet completed, and the plan appears to 
have been given up. The main street was three-quarters of a 
mile long, and very wide ; at one end of it was the college, and 
at the other the capitol. The college was thought to be some- 
thing like Chelsea Hospital. The capitol, in the shape of an H, 
is described as "a noble pile." The church was "adorned and 
convenient as the best churches in London." Besides these 
there were an octagon magazine for arms and ammunition, a 
bowling-green, and a play-house. There were several private 
houses of brick, with many rooms on a floor, but not high. It 
was observed that wherever the water was brackish, it was sickly ; 
but Williamsburg was on a healthy site.* Gloucester was at this 
time the most populous county; Essex or Rappahannock "over- 
run with briars, thorns, and wild beasts." The Atlantic Ocean 
is denominated the "Virginian Sea."f 

Whitefield, while at Charleston, in South Carolina, during the 
spring of 1747, being presented with a sum of money, expended 
it in the purchase of a plantation and negroes for the support of 
the orphan-house. | Having come on to Virginia, in a letter 
written from Williamsburg in April of that year, he says to a 
friend in Philadelphia: "Men in power here seem to be alarmed; 
but truth is great and will prevail. I am to preach this morn- 
ing." By a remarkable coincidence, Samuel Davies, so pre- 
eminently instrumental in organizing and extending Presbyte- 
rianism in Middle Virginia, happened to come to Virginia about 
the same time. He was born in the County of New Castle, Penn- 



* Williamsburg is said to be now a very healthy place, except during the 
months of vacation. 

f Bowen's Geography, ii. 649, 652. J Port Folio for 1812, p. 152. 



446 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

sylvania, now Delaware, November 3d, 1723, of Welsh extraction, 
on both paternal and maternal side. He was educated principally 
in Pennsylvania, under the care of the Rev. Samuel Blair, at 
Fagg's Manor, where he was thoroughly instructed in the classics, 
sciences, and theology. By close study his slender frame was 
enfeebled. He married Sarah Kirkpatrick in October, 1746. 
Deputed to perform a mission in so perplexing a field, without 
experience, and in delicate health, he started with hesitation and 
reluctance. Passing down the Eastern Shore associated with 
the labors of Makemie, Davies came to Williamsburg. Here he 
applied to the general court for license to preach at three meet- 
ing-houses in Hanover, and one in Henrico. The council hesi- 
tated to comply ; but, by the governor's influence, the license was 
obtained on the fourteenth of April. The members of the court 
present on this occasion were William Gooch, Governor; John 
Robinson, John Grymes, John Custis, Philip Lightfoot, Thomas 
Lee, Lewis Burwell, William Fairfax, John Blair, William Nel- 
son, Esqs. ; William Dawson, Clerk. This was only two days after 
Whitefield had preached in Williamsburg, and he and Davies were 
probably there at the same time. Davies, proceeding at once to 
Hanover, was received with joy, since, on the preceding Sunday, 
a proclamation had been attached to the door of Morris's Read- 
ing-house, requiring magistrates to suppress itinerant preachers, 
and warning the people against gathering to hear them. After a 
brief sojourn, returning home, he languished under ill health, ag- 
gravated by the sudden death of his wife, and threatening to cut 
him off prematurely. He, however, recovered sufficient strength 
to return to Hanover in May, 1748, and settled at a place about 
twelve miles from the falls of the James River. In this second 
visit he was accompanied by the Rev. John Rodgers, who, finding it 
impossible to obtain permission to settle in Virginia, returned to the 
North. Governor Gooch favored the application, but a majority 
of the council stood out against it, saying: "We have Mr. 
Rodgers out, and we are determined to keep him out." Some of 
the clergy of the established church were vehement in their oppo- 
sition to Davies and Rodgers. A majority of the council lent their 
countenance to this opposition, but Gooch took occasion to rebuke 
it in severe terms. John Blair, nephew of the commissary, Com- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 447 

missary Dawson, and another member of the council, whose name 
is forgotten, united with the governor on this occasion in treating 
the strangers kindly, and endeavored to procure a reconsideration 
of the case, but in vain. According to Burk,* most of the in- 
telligent men of that day, including Edmund Pendleton, appear 
in the character of persecutors. It must be remembered, how- 
ever, that the council and its friends had no right to proclaim 
religious freedom, and that the controversy depended on the true 
interpretation of the act of parliament and the Virginia sta- 
tutes. These made the law, and the council was but the execu- 
tive of the law, without authority to repeal or amend it. 

Davies was now left to labor alone in Virginia. In April the 
court decided the long-pending suits against Isaac Winston, Sr., 
and Samuel Morris, by fining them each twenty shillings and the 
costs of prosecution. Severe laws had been passed in Virginia 
in accordance with the English act of uniformity, and enforcing 
attendance at the parish church. The toleration act was little 
understood in Virginia; Davies examined it carefully, and satis- 
fied himself that it was in force in the colony, not, indeed, by 
virtue of its original enactment in England, but because it had 
been expressly recognized and adopted by an act of the Virginia 
assembly. 

In Oc >ber, 1748, licenses were with difficulty obtained upon 
the petitions of the dissenters for three other meeting-houses 
lying in Caroline, Louisa, and Goochland. Davies was only 
about twenty-three years of age; yet his fervid eloquence at- 
tracted large congregations, including many churchmen. On 
several occasions he found it necessary to defend the cause of the 
dissenters at the bar of the general court. When on one occa- 
sion, by permission, he rose to reply to the argument of Peyton 
Randolph, the king's attorney-general, a titter at first ran 
through the court ; but it ceased at the utterance of the very first 
sentence, and his masterly argument extorted admiration; and 
during his stay in Williamsburg he received many civilities, espe- 
cially from the Honorable John Blair, of the council, and Sir 
William Gooch. Samuel Davies happening to be in London at 

* Hist, of Va., iii. 121. 



448 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

the same time with Peyton Randolph, some years afterwards, 
mentions him in his Diary as "my old adversary," and adds, 
"he will, no doubt, oppose whatever is done in favor of the dis- 
senters in Hanover." Davies, who was a man of exquisite sen- 
sibility, repeatedly alludes to the torture to which his feelings 
had been subjected by the mortifications that he suffered when 
appearing before the general court. 

There was eventually obtained from Sir Dudley Rider, the 
king's attorney-general in England, a decision confirming the 
view which Davies had taken of the toleration act. He ex- 
pressed himself in regard to the governor and council as follows : 
"The Honorable Sir William Gooch, our late governor, dis- 
covered a ready disposition to allow us all claimable privileges, 
and the greatest aversion to persecuting measures ; but consider- 
ing the shocking reports spread abroad concerning us by officious 
malignants, it was no great wonder the council discovered a con- 
siderable reluctance to tolerate us. Had it not been for this, I 
persuade myself they would have shown themselves the guardians 
of our legal privileges, as well as generous patriots to their coun- 
try, which is the character generally given them." 

In his "State of Religion among the Dissenters," Davies re- 
marks: "There are and have been in this colony a great number 
of Scotch merchants, who were educated Presbyterians, but (I 
speak what their conduct more loudly proclaims) they generally, 
upon their arrival here, prove scandals to their religion and 
country by their loose principles and immoral practices, and 
either fall into indifferency about religion in general, or affect to 
be polite by turning deists, or fashionable by conforming to the 
church." Of the dissenters in Virginia he says, that at the first 
they were not properly dissenters from the orginal constitution 
of the Church of England, but rather dissented from those who 
had forsaken it. 

Sir William Gooch, who had now been governor of Virginia 
for twenty-two years, left the colony, with his family, in August, 
1749, amid the regrets of the people. Notwithstanding some 
flexibility of principle, he appears to have been estimable in pub- 
lic and private character. His capacity jand intelligence were of 
a high order, and were adorned by uniform courtesy and dignity, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 449 

and singular amenity of manners. If lie exhibited something of 
intolerance toward the close of his administration, he seems, 
nevertheless, to have commanded the esteem and respect of the 
dissenters. After his departure from Virginia he continued to 
be the steady friend of the colony. A county was named after 
him.* During Sir William Gooch's administration, from 1728 to 
1749, the population of Virginia had nearly doubled, and there 
had been added one-third to the extent of her settlements. f 
The taxes were light, industry revived, foreign commerce in- 
creased, and Virginia enjoyed a prosperity hitherto unknown. 
The frugal and industrious Germans were filling up one portion 
of the valley and the Piedmont country; the hardy, well- 
disciplined, and energetic Scotch-Irish were peopling the other 
portion of the valley, and planting colonies eastward of the Blue 
Ridge. Like the strawberry, the population continually sent out 
"runners" to possess the land. The contact and commingling 
of the English, the French, the German, the Scotch, the Irish, 
while it brought about some- collision, yet produced an excite- 
ment which was salutary and beneficial to all. So the meeting 
of the opposite currents of electricity, although accompanied by 
a shock, results in the renovation of the atmosphere. The peo- 
ple of Eastern Virginia and the inhabitants of the valley have 
each been benefited by the other; each section has its virtues 
and its faults, its advantages and its disadvantages, and Virginia 
does not derive its character from either one, but the elements of 
both are mixed up in her. This is not the result of chance, or 
the mere work of man, but the order of a superintending Provi- 
dence that presides in human aifairs. 

The government of Virginia now devolved upon John Robin- 
son, Sr., president of the council, but he dying in a few days, 
Thomas Lee succeeded as president. Had Lee lived longer, it 
was believed his influence and connexions in England would have 
secured for him the appointment of deputy governor. He was 
father of Philip Ludwell, Richard Henry, Thomas L., Arthur, 



* His son married a Miss Bowles, of Maryland, who, after his death, married 
Colonel William Lewis. 

-j- Chalmers' Introduction, ii. 202. 

29 



c 



450 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Francis Lightfoot, and William. As Westmoreland, their native 
county, is distinguished above all others in Virginia as the birth- 
place of great men, so perhaps no other Virginian was the father 
of so many distinguished sons as President Lee. 

The Earl of Albemarle, after whom the county of that name was 
called, was still titular governor-in-chief. Of this nobleman, when 
ambassador at Paris, Horace Walpole says: "It was convenient 
to him to be anywhere but in England. His debts were excessive, 
though ambassador, groom of the stole, governor of Virginia, 
and colonel of a regiment of guards. His figure was genteel, 
his manner noble and agreeable. The rest of his merit was the 
interest Lady Albemarle had with the king through Lady Yar- 
mouth. He had all his life imitated the French manners till he 
came to Paris, where he never conversed with a Frenchman. If 
good breeding is not different from good sense, Lord Albemarle, 
at least, knew how to distinguish it from good nature. He would 
bow to his postillion while he was ruining his tailor." 

Lee was succeeded by Lewis Burwell, of Gloucester County, 
also president of the council. During his brief administration, 
some Cherokee chiefs, with a party of warriors, visited Williams- 
burg for the purpose, as they professed, of opening a direct trade 
with Virginia. A party of the Nottoways, animated by invete- 
rate hostility, approached to attack them; and the Cherokees 
raised the war song ; but President Burwell effected a reconcilia- 
tion, and they sat down and smoked together the pipe of peace. 
A New York company of players were permitted to erect a 
theatre in Williamsburg. President Burwell, who was educated 
in England, was distinguished for his scholarship ; he is said to 
have embraced almost every branch of human knowledge within 
the circle of his studies. The Burwells are descended from an 
ancient family of that name of the Counties of Bedford and 
Northampton, England. The first of the family, Major Lewis 
Burwell, came over to Virginia at an early date, and settled in 
Gloucester. He died in 1658, two hundred years ago. He 
appears to have married Lucy, daughter of Captain Robert 
Higginson, one of the first commanders that "subdued the 
country of Virginia from the power of the heathen." She sur- 
vived till the year 1675. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 451 

Matthew Burwell married Abigail Smith, descended from the 
celebrated family of Bacon, and heiress of the Honorable Na- 
thaniel Bacon, President of Virginia. Nathaniel Burwell, who 
died in 1721, married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Robert Car- 
ter, Esq. Carter's Creek, the old seat of the Burwells, is 
situated in Gloucester, on a creek of that name, and not far 
back from the York River. The stacks of antique diamond- 
shaped chimneys, and the old-fashioned panelling of the interior, 
remind the visitor that Virginia is truly the "Ancient Dominion." 
There is the family graveyard shaded with locusts, and overrun 
with parasites and grape-vines. The family arms are carved on 
some of the tomb-stones ; and hogs show that the Bacon arms are 
quartered upon those of the Burwells.* 



* The population of the colonies at this time was as follows: — 

Increase per cent. 
colonies. per annum. 

Connecticut 100,000 4-65 

Georgia 6,000 

Maryland 85,000 5-00 

Massachusetts 220,000 4-46 

New Hampshire 30,000 4-17 

New Jersey 00,000 6-25 

New York 100,000 4-86 

North Carolina 45,000 16-67 

Pennsylvania* 250,000 23-96 

Rhode Island 35,000 5-21 

South Carolina 30,000 6-84 

Virginia 85,000 2-34 

All classes 1,016,000 6-23 

By this table it appears that the greatest advance in population took place in 
Pennsylvania and North Carolina; the least in Virginia. The average increase 
of all the colonies was a little more than six per cent, in forty-eight years, from 
1701 to 1749. 



Delaware included in Pennsylvania. 



CHAPTER LIX. 



Dinwiddle, Governor — Ohio Company — Lawrence Washington — His Views on 
Religious Freedom — Davies and the Dissenters — Dissensions between Dinwid- 
dle and the Assembly — George Washington — His Lineage — Early Education — 
William Fairfax — Washington a Surveyor — Lord Fairfax — Washington Adju- 
tant-General. 

A new epoch dawns with the administration of Robert Din- 
widdie, who arrived in Virginia as lieutenant-governor early in 
1752, with the purpose of repressing the encroachments of the 
French, of extending the confines of Virginia, and of enlarging 
the Indian trade. A vast tract of land, mostly lying west of the 
mountains and south of the Ohio, was granted by the king about 
the year 1749, to a company of planters and merchants. This 
scheme appears to have been brought forward in the preceding 
year by Thomas Lee of the council, and he became associated 
with twelve persons in Virginia and Maryland, and with Mr. 
Hanbury, a London Quaker merchant, and they were incor- 
porated as "The Ohio Company." Lawrence and Augustine 
Washington were early and prominent members of this com- 
pany. The company sent out Mr. Christopher Gist to explore 
the country on the Ohio as far as the falls. He was, like 
Boone, from the banks of the Yadkin, an expert pioneer, at 
home in the wilderness and among the Indians, adventurous, 
hardy, and intrepid. Crossing the Ohio, he found the country 
well watered and wooded, with here and there plains covered with 
wild rye, or meadows of blue grass and clover. He observed 
numerous buffaloes, deer, elk, and wild turkeys. Returning to 
the Ohio and recrossing it, Gist proceeded toward the Cut- 
tawa or Kentucky River. Ascending to the summit of a raoun- 
(452) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 453 

tain, he beheld that magnificent region long before it was seen by 
Daniel Boone.* 

On the 13th of June, 1752, a treaty was effected with the 
western Indians at Logstown, on the Ohio, by which they agreed 
not to molest any settlements that might be made on the south- 
east side of the Ohio. Colonel Fry and two other commissioners 
represented Virginia on this occasion, while Gist appeared as 
agent of the Ohio Company. 

Thomas Lee, the projector of this company, having not sur- 
vived long after its incorporation, the chief conduct of it fell into 
the hands of Lawrence Washington. Governor Dinwiddie and 
George Mason were also members. There were twenty shares 
and as many members. Lawrence Washington, being desirous 
of colonizing Germans on the company's lands, wrote to Mr. 
Ilanbury as follows: "While the unhappy state of my health 
called me back to our springs,! I conversed with all the Penn- 
sylvanian Dutch whom I met with, either there or elsewhere, and 
much recommended their settling on the Ohio. The chief reason 
against it was, the paying of an English clergyman, when few 
understood and none made use of him. It has been my opinion, 
and I hope ever will be, that restraints on conscience are cruel 
in regard to those on whom they are imposed, and injurious to 
the country imposing them. England, Holland, and Prussia, I 
may quote as examples, and much more, Pennsylvania, which 
has flourished under that delightful liberty so as to become the 
admiration of every man who considers the short time it has been 
settled. As the ministry have thus far shown the true spirit 
of patriotism, by encouraging the extending of our dominions in 
America, I doubt not by an application they would still go farther, 
and complete what they have begun, by procuring some kind of 
charter to prevent the residents on the Ohio and its branches 
from being subject to parish taxes. They all assured me that 
they might have from Germany any number of settlers, could 
they but obtain their favorite exemption. I have promised to 
endeavor for it, and now do my utmost by this letter. I am well 

* Sparks' Writings of Washington, ii. 478; Irving's Washington, i. 5'J. 
j- At Bath, in Virginia. 



454 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

assured we shall never obtain it by a law here. This colony was 
greatly settled, in the latter part of Charles the First's time and 
during the usurpation, by the zealous churchmen, and that spirit 
which was then brought in has ever since continued, so that, 
except a few Quakers, we have no dissenters. But what has 
been the consequence? We have increased by slow degrees, ex- 
cept negroes and convicts, while our neighboring colonies, whose 
natural advantages are greatly inferior to ours, have become 
populous."* He also wrote to Governor Dinwiddie, then in Eng- 
land, to the same effect. He replied that it would be difficult to 
obtain the desired exemption for the Dutch settlers, but promised to 
use his utmost endeavors to effect it. It does not appear whether 
the ministry ever came to a decision on this subject. The non- 
conformists augured favorably of Dhrwiddie's administration. 
The Rev. Jonathan Edwards, in a letter addressed to Rev. John 
Erskine, of the Kirk of Scotland, says: "What you write of the 
appointment of a gentleman to the office of lieutenant-governor of 
Virginia, who is a friend to religion, is an event that the friends of 
religion in America have great reason to rejoice in, by reason of 
the late revival of religion in that province, and the opposition 
that has been made against it, and the great endeavors to crush 
it by many of the chief men of the province. Mr. Davies, in a 
letter I lately received from him, dated March 2d, 1752, men- 
tions the same thing. His words are, ' We have a new governor 
who is a candid, condescending gentleman. And as he has been 
educated in the Church of Scotland, he has a respect for the 
Presbyterians, which I hope is a happy omen." 1 Jonathan Ed- 
wards was invited in the summer of 1751 to come and settle in 
Virginia, and a handsome sum was subscribed for his support; 
but he was installed at Stockbridge, in Massachusetts, before the 
messenger from Virginia reached him.f 

Dinwiddie, the new governor, an able man, had been a clerk 
to a collector in a West India custom-house, whose enormous de- 
falcation he exposed to the government ; and for this service, it is 
said, he was promoted, in 1741, to the office of surveyor of the 

* Sparks' Writings of Washington, ii. 481. 
f Foote's. Sketches, 219. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 455 

customs for the colonies, and now to the post of governor of Vir- 
ginia. She was at this time one of the most populous and the 
most wealthy of all the Anglo-American colonies. Dinwiddie, 
upon his arrival, gave offence by declaring the king's dissent to 
certain acts which Gooch had approved; and in June, 1752, the 
assembly remonstrated against this exercise of the royal prero- 
gative; but their remonstrance proved unavailing. The Virgi- 
nians were in the habit of acquiring lands without expense, by 
means of a warrant of a survey without a patent. Dinwiddie 
found a million of unpatented acres thus possessed, and he esta- 
blished, with the advice of the council, a fee of a pistole (equiva- 
lent to three dollars and sixty cents) for every seal annexed to a 
grant. Against this measure the assembly, in December, 1753, 
passed strong resolutions, and declared that whoever should pay 
that fee should be considered a betrayer of the rights of the peo- 
ple; and they sent the attorney -general, Peyton Randolph^ as 
their agent, to England, with a salary of two thousand pounds, to 
procure redress. The board of trade, after virtually deciding in 
favor of Dinwiddie, recommended a compromise of the dispute, 
and advised him to reinstate Randolph in the office of attorney- 
general, as the times required harmony and mutual confidence. 
The assembly appear to have been much disturbed upon a small 
occasion. During Randolph's absence Dinwiddie wrote to a cor- 
respondent in England: "I have had a great deal of trouble and 
uneasiness from the factious disputes and violent heats of a most 
impudent, troublesome party here, in regard to that silly fee of a 
pistole; they are very full of the success of their party, which I 
give small notice to." 

The natural prejudice felt by the aristocracy of Virginia 
against Dinwiddie, as an untitled Scotchman, was increased by a 
former altercation with him. When, in 1741, he was made 
surveyor-general of the customs, he was appointed, as his prede- 
cessors had been, a member of the several councils of the colo- 
nies. Gooch obeyed the order; but the council, prompted by 
their old jealousy of the surveyor-general's interfering with their 
municipal laws, and still more by their overweening exclusive- 
ness, refused to permit him to act with them, either in the coun- 



456 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

cil or on the bench. The board of trade decided the controversy 
in favor of Dinwiddie.* 

It was during Dinwiddie's administration that the name of 
George Washington began to attract public attention. The 
curiosity of his admirers has traced the family back to the Con- 
quest. Sir William Washington, of Packington, in the County 
of Kent, married a sister of George Yilliers, Duke of Bucking- 
ham, and favorite of Charles the First. Lieutenant-Colonel 
James Washington, taking up arms in the royal cause, lost his 
life at the siege of Pontefract Castle. Sir Henry Washington, 
son and heir of Sir William, distinguished himself "while serving 
under Prince Rupert, at the 'storming of Bristol, in 1643, and 
again a few years after, while in command of Worcester. His 
uncles, John and Lawrence Washington, in the year 1657, emi- 
grated to Virginia, and settled in Westmoreland. John married 
a Miss Anne Pope, and resided at Bridge's or Bridge Creek, in 
that county. It is he who has been before mentioned as com- 
manding the Virginia troops against the Indians not long before 
the breaking out of Bacon's rebellion. He and his brother 
Lawrence both died in 1677; their wills are preserved; they both 
appear to have had estates in England as well as in Virginia. 
His grandson, Augustine, father of George, born in 1694, mar- 
ried first in April, 1715, Jane Butler ; and their two sons, Law- 
rence and Augustine, survived their childhood. In March, 1730, 
Augustine Washington, Sr., married secondly, Mary Ball. The 
issue of this union were four sons, George, Samuel, John Augus- 
tine, and Charles, and two daughters, Elizabeth or Betty, and 
Mildred, who died an infant. George Washington was born on 
the twenty-second day of February, N. S., 1732. The birth- 
place is sometimes called Bridge's Creek, and sometimes Pope's 
Creek ; the house stood about a mile apart between the two 
creeks, but nearer to Pope's. Of the steep-roofed house which 
overlooked the Potomac, a brick chimney and some scattered 
bricks alone remain. George, it is seen, was the eldest child of 
a second marriage. 

Not long after his birth his father removed to a seat opposite 

* Chalmers' Hist, of Revolt of Amcr. Colonies, ii. 199. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 457 

Fredericksburg; and this was the scene of George's boyhood; 
but the house has disappeared. He received only a plain Eng- 
lish education, having obtained his first instruction at an old field 
school, under a teacher named Hobby — the parish sexton. The 
military spirit pervading the colony reached the school ; in these 
military amusements George Washington was predominant; but 
he found a competitor in William Bustle. 

Augustine Washington, the father of George, died in April, 
1743, aged forty-nine years. He left a large estate. Not long 
\afterwards Lawrence Washington married Anne, eldest daughter 
U of the Honorable William Fairfax, and took up his residence 
at Mount Vernon, in Fairfax County. Augustine resided at 
Bridge's Creek, and married Anne, daughter of William Aylett, 
Esq., of Westmoreland County. George remained under the 
care of his mother, and was sent to stay for a time with his 
brother Augustine, to go to a school under charge of a teacher 
named Williams. It is probable that, as he taught him his daily 
lesson, he little anticipated the figure which his pupil was des- 
tined to make in the world. While he became thorough in what 
he learned he became expert in manly and athletic exercises. 
As he advanced in years he was a frequent guest at Mount Ver- 
non, and became familiar with the Fairfax family at Belvoir, 
(called in England Beaver,) a few miles below, on the Potomac. 

In the year 1747, when George was in his fourteenth year, a 
midshipman's warrant was obtained for him by his brother Law- 
rence. His father-in-law, William Fairfax, in September of the 
preceding year, had written to him: "George has been with us, 
and says he will be steady, and thankfully follow your advice as 
his best friend." From his promise to be steady, it may be in- 
ferred that he was then not so. And from his consenting to fol- 
low thankfully his brother's advice, it would appear that the plan 
of his going to sea originated with Lawrence, and not from 
George's strong bent that way, as has been commonly stated. 

While the matter was still undetermined, his uncle, Joseph 
Ball, who, having married an English lady, had settled as a law- 
yer in London, wrote as follows to his sister Mary, the mother 
of Washington, in a letter dated at StraiFord-by-Bow, May the 
19th, 1747: "I understand that you are advised, and have some 



458 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

thoughts of putting your son George to sea. I think he had 
better be put apprentice to a tinker; for a common sailor before 
the mast has by no means the liberty of the subject; for they 
will press him from a ship where he has fifty shillings a month, 
and make him take twenty-three, and cut, and slash, and use him 
like a negro, or rather like a dog. And as to any considerable 
preferment in the navy, it is not to be expected, as there are 
always so many gaping for it here who have interest, and he has 
none. And if he should get to be master of a Virginia ship, 
(which it is very difficult to do,) a planter that has three or four 
hundred acres of land, and three or four slaves, if he be indus- 
trious, may live more comfortably and have his family in better 
bread, than such a master of a ship can. He must not be too 
hasty to be rich, but go on gently and with patience as things 
will naturally go. This method without aiming at being a fine 
gentleman before his time, will carry a man more comfortably 
and surely through the world than going to sea, unless it be a 
great chance indeed. I pray God keep you and yours. 
"Your loving brother, 

"JOSEPH BALL."* 

At length the mother's affectionate opposition prevented the 
execution of this scheme. George Washington now devoted 
himself to his studies, especially the mathematics and surveying. 

The marriage of his brother, Lawrence Washington, with Miss 
Fairfax, introduced George to the favor of Thomas Lord Fair- 
fax, proprietor of the Northern Neck, who gave him an appoint- 
ment as surveyor. He was now little more than sixteen years 
of age. After crossing the Blue Ridge, the surveying party, 
including George Fairfax, entered a wilderness where they were 
exposed to the inclemency of the season, and subjected to hard- 
ship and fatigue. It was in the month of March, in the eventful 
year 1748; snow yet lingered on the mountain-tops, and the 
streams were swollen into torrents. The survey-lands lay on the 
Shenandoah, near the site of Winchester, and beyond the first 
range of the Alleghanies, on the south branch of the Potomac, 

* Bishop Meade's Old Churches, etc. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 459 

about seventy miles above Harper's Ferry. This kind of life 
was well fitted to train young "Washington for his future career: 
a knowledge of topography taught him how to select a ground 
for encampment or for battle; while hardy exercise and exposure 
invigorated a frame naturally athletic, and fitted him to endure 
the privations and encounter the dangers of military life. He 
now became acquainted with the temper and habits of the people 
of the frontier, and the Indians ; and grew familiar with the wild 
country which was to be the scene of his early military opera- 
tions. His regular pay was a doubloon (seven dollars and twenty 
cents) a day, and occasionally six pistoles (twenty-one dollars 
and sixty cents.) 

Appointed by the president of "William and Mary College, in 
July, 1749, a public surveyor, he continued to engage in this 
pursuit for three years, except during the rigor of the winter 
months. Lord Fairfax had taken up his residence at Greenway 
Court, thirteen miles southeast of the site of Winchester. A 
graduate of Oxford, accustomed to that society in England to 
which his rank entitled him, fond of literature, and having con- 
tributed some numbers to the Spectator, this nobleman, owing to 
a disappointment in love, had come to superintend his vast landed 
possessions, embracing twenty-one large counties, and live in the 
secluded Valley of the Shenandoah. Here Washington, the 
youthful surveyor, was a frequent inmate; and here he indulged 
his taste for hunting, and improved himself by reading and con- 
versing with Lord Fairfax. 



CHAPTER LX. 

French Encroachments — Mission of Washington — Virginia resists the French — 
First Engagement — Death of Jumonville — Lieutenant-Colonel Washington 
retreats — Surrenders at Fort Necessity. 

At the age of nineteen, in 1751, Washington was appointed one 
of the adjutants-general of Virginia, with the rank of major. In 
the autumn of that year he accompanied his brother Lawrence, 
then in declining health, to Barbadoes, in the West Indies, who 
returned to Virginia, and after lingering for awhile died at Mount 
Vernon, aged thirty-four. 

In the same year also died the Rev. William Dawson, Commis- 
sary and President of William and Mary College. Davies ex- 
presses veneration for his memory. 

After the arrival of Governor Dinwiddie, the colony was 
divided into four military districts, and the northern one was 
allotted to Major Washington. France was now undertaking to 
stretch a chain of posts from Canada to Louisiana, in order to 
secure a control over the boundless and magnificent regions west 
of the Alleghanies, which she claimed by a vague title of La 
Salle's discovery. The French deposited, (1749,) under ground, 
at the mouth of the Kenhawa and other places, leaden plates, on 
which was inscribed the claim of Louis the Fifteenth to the whole 
country watered by the Ohio and its tributaries. England claimed 
the same territory upon a ground equally slender — the cession 
made by the Iroquois at the treaty of Lancaster. A more 
tenable ground was, that from the first discovery of Virginia, 
England had claimed the territory to the north and northwest 
from ocean to ocean, and that the region in question was the 
contiguous back country of her settlements. The title of the 
native tribes actually inhabiting the country commanded no con- 
sideration from the contending powers. The French troops had 
now commenced establishing posts in the territory on the Ohio 
claimed by Virginia. Dinwiddie having communicated information 
(460) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 461 

of these encroachments to his government, had been instructed 
to repel force by force if necessary, after he had remonstrated 
with them ; he had also received a supply of cannon and warlike 
stores. A treaty with the Ohio tribes was held September, 1753, 
at Winchester, when, in exchange for presents of arms and am- 
munition, they promised their aid, and consented that a fortlet 
should be erected by the governor of Virginia on the Mononga- 
hela. 

Dinwiddie, deeming it necessary to remonstrate against the 
French encroachments, found in Major Washington a trusty mes- 
senger, who cheerfully undertook the hazardous mission. Start- 
ing from Williamsburg on the last day of October, he reached 
Fredericksburg on the next day, and there engaged as French 
interpreter Jacob Van Braam, who had served in the Carthagena 
expedition under Lawrence Washington. At Alexandria they 
provided necessaries, and at Winchester baggage and horses, 
and reached Will's Creek, now Cumberland River, on the four- 
teenth of November. Thence, accompanied by Van Braam, 
Gist, and four other attendants, he traversed a savage wilder- 
ness, over rugged mountains covered with snow, and across rapid 
swollen rivers. He reconnoitred the face of the country with a 
sagacious eye, and selected the confluence of the Alleghany and 
Monongahela Rivers, where they form the beautiful Ohio, as an 
eligible site for a fort. Fort Du Quesne was afterwards erected 
there by the French. After conferring, through an Indian 
interpreter, with Tanacharisson, called the half-king, (as his 
authority was somewhat subordinate to that of the Iroquois,) 
Washington provided himself with Indian guides, and, accom- 
panied by the half-king and some other chiefs, set out for the 
French post. Ascending the Alleghany River by way of Ve- 
nango, he at length delivered Dinwiddie's letter to the French 
commander, Monsieur Le Gai-deur de St. Pierre, a courteous 
Knight of the Order of St. Louis. Detained there some days, 
young Washington examined the fort, and prepared a plan and 
description of it. It was situated on a branch of French Creek, 
about fifteen miles south of Lake Erie, and about seven hundred 
and fifty from Williamsburg. When he departed with a sealed 
reply, a canoe was hospitably stocked with liquors and provisions, 



4G2 HISTORY OP THE COLONY AND 

but the French gave him no little anxiety by their intrigues to 
win the half-king over to their interests, and to retain him at the 
fort. Getting away at last with much difficulty, after a perilous 
voyage of six days they reached Venango, where they met their 
horses. They growing weak, and being given up for packs, 
Washington put on an Indian dress and proceeded with the 
party for three days, when, committing the conduct of them 
to Van Braam, he determined to return in advance. With an 
Indian match-coat tied around, taking his papers with him, and a 
pack on his back and a gun in his hand, he proceeded on foot, 
accompanied by Gist. At a place of ill-omened name, Murder- 
ingtovvn, on the southeast fork of Beaver Creek, they met with a 
band of French Indians lying in wait for them, and one of them, 
being employed as a guide, fired at either Gist or the major, at 
the distance of fifteen steps, but missed. Gist would have killed 
the Indian at once, but he was prevented by the prudence of 
Washington. They, however, captured and detained him till 
nine o'clock at night, when releasing him, they pursued their 
course during the whole night. Upon reaching the Alleghany 
River they employed a whole day in making a raft with the aid 
only of a hatchet. Just as the sun was sinking behind the moun- 
tains they launched the raft and undertook to cross: the river 
was covered with ice, driving down the impetuous stream, by 
which, before they were half way over, they were blocked up and 
near being sunk. Washington, putting out his setting-pole to 
stop the raft, Avas thrown by the revulsion into the water, but 
recovered himself by catching hold of one of the logs. He 
and his companion, forced to abandon it, betook themselves 
to an island near at hand, where they passed the night, Decem- 
ber the twenty-ninth, in wet clothes and without fire: Gist's 
hands and feet were frozen. In the morning they were able to 
cross on the ice, and they passed two or three days at a trading- 
post near the spot where the battle of the Monongahela was 
afterwards fought. Here they heard of the recent massacre of a 
white family on the banks of the Great Kenhawa. Washington 
visited Queen Aliquippa at the mouth of the Youghiogeny. At 
Gist's house, on the Monongahela, he purchased a horse, and, 
separating from this faithful companion, proceeded to Belvoir, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 463 

where he rested one day, and arrived at Williamsburg on the 
16th day of January, 1754, after an absence of eleven weeks, 
and a journey of fifteen hundred miles, one-half of it being 
through an untrodden wilderness. A journal which he kept was 
published in the colonial newspapers and in England. For this 
hazardous and painful journey he received no compensation save 
the bare amount of his expenses. 

The governor and council resolved to raise two companies, of 
one_liundi-ed men each, the one to be enlisted by him at Alex- 
andria, and the other by Captain Trent on the frontier, the com- 
mand of both being given to Washington. He received orders to 
march as soon as practicable to the fork of the Ohio, and com- 
plete a fort, supposed to have been already commenced there by 
the Ohio Company. The assembly which met December, 1753, 
refused Dinwiddie supplies for resisting the French encroach- 
ments, "because they thought their privileges in danger," and 
they did not apprehend much danger from the French. The 
governor called the assembly together again in January, 1754, 
when at length, after much persuasion, they appropriated ten 
thousand pounds of the colonial currency for protecting the fron- 
tier against the hostile attempts of the French. The bill, how- 
ever, was clogged with provisoes against the encroachments of 
prerogative. Dinwiddie increased the military force to a regi- 
ment of three hundred men, and the command was given to 
Colonel Joshua Fry, and Major Washington was made lieutenant- 
colonel. Cannon and other military equipments were sent to 
Alexandria. The English minister, the Earl of Holdernesse, also 
ordered the governor of New York to furnish two independent 
companies, and the governor of South Carolina one, to co-operate 
in this enterprise. 

Early in April, 1754, Washington, with two companies, pro- 
ceeded to the Great Meadows. At Will's Creek, on the twenty- 
fifth, he learned that an ensign, in command of Trent's company, 
had surrendered, on the seventeenth, the unfinished fort at the 
fork of the Ohio, (now Pittsburg,) to a large French force, which 
had come down under Contrecoeur from Venango, with many 
pieces of cannon, batteaux, canoes, and a large body of men. 
This was regarded as the first open act of hostility between 



464 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

France and England in North America. In the war which en- 
sued Great Britain indeed triumphed gloriously, yet that triumph 
served only to bring on in its train the revolt of the colonies and 
the dismemberment of the empire. 

Washington, upon hearing of the surrender of the fort, marched 
slowly for the mouth of Red Stone Creek, preparing the roads 
for the passage of cannon which were to follow. Governor Din- 
widdie, about the same time, repaired to Winchester for the pur- 
pose of holding a treaty with the Indians, which, however, failed, 
only two or three chiefs of inferior note attending. 

Virginia refused to send delegates to the Albany Convention; 
and the assembly and governor united in disapproving of Frank- 
lin's Plan of Union, adopted on that occasion. Dinwiddie during 
the previous year had proposed to Lord Halifax a plan of colo- 
nial government, dividing the colonies into two districts, northern 
and southern, in each of which there should be a congress, or 
general council, for the regulation of their respective interests. 

The money appropriated by the assembly for the support of 
the troops was expended under the care of a committee of the 
assembly, associated with the governor, and the niggardly 
economy of this committee gave great disgust to Washington and 
the officers under him. He declared that he would prefer serving 
as a volunteer to "slaving dangerously for the shadow of pay 
through woods, rocks, mountains." Expecting a collision with 
the enemy, he wrote to Governor Dinwiddie, "We have prepared 
a charming field for an encounter." Ascertaining that a French 
reconnoitering detachment was near his camp, and believing their 
intentions hostile, he determined to anticipate them. Guided by 
friendly Indians, in a dark and rainy night he approached the 
French encampment, and early on the ^twenty-eighth of May, 
with forty of his own men and a few Indians, surrounded the 
French. A skirmish ensued; M. De Jumonville, the officer in 
command, and ten of his party were killed, and twenty-two made 
prisoners. Several of them appeared to have a mixture of In- 
dian blood in them. The death of Jumonville created no little 
indignation in France, and became the subject of a French poem. 
It is said that Washington, in referring to this affair, remarked 
that "he knew of no music so pleasing as the whistling of bullets." 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 465 

This being mentioned in the presence of George the Second, he 
observed, " He would not say so if he had been used to hear 
many." The king had himself fought at the battle of Dettingen. 
Inquiry being many years afterwards made of Washington as to 
the expression, he replied, " If I said so, it was when I was young." 
Charles the Twelfth, of Sweden, expressed delight when he first 
heard the whistling of bullets. Of Washington's men one was 
killed and two or three were wounded. While the regiment was 
on its march to join the detachment in advance, the command de- 
volved, at the end of May, on, Lieutenant-Colonel Washington by 
the death of Colonel Fry. This officer, a native of England, was 
educated at Oxford. Coming over to Virginia, he appears to 
have resided for a time in the County of Essex. He was some 
time professor of mathematics in the College of William and 
Mary, and afterwards a member of the house of burgesses, and 
engaged in running a boundary line between Virginia and North 
Carolina to the westward. In concert with Peter Jefferson, 
father of Thomas, he made a map of Virginia, and he was, as has 
been mentioned before, a commissioner at the treaty of Logstown, 
in June, 1752. He died universally lamented. 

Washington, in a letter addressed to Governor Dinwiddie about 
this time, said: "For my own part, I can answer that I have a 
constitution hardy enough to encounter and undergo the most 
severe trials, and I flatter myself, resolution to face what any 
man dares, as shall be proved when it comes to the test, which I 
believe we are upon the borders of." The provisions of the de- 
tachment being nearly exhausted, and the ground occupied dis- 
advantageous, and the French at the fork of the Ohio, now called 
Fort Du Quesne, having been reinforced, and being about to 
march against the English, a council of war, held June the twenty- 
eighth, at Gist's house, thirteen miles beyond the Great Meadows, 
advised a retreat, and Colonel Washington fell back to the post 
at the Great Meadows, now styled Fort Necessity, which he 
reached on the first of July. His force, amounting, with the ad- 
dition of an independent company of South Carolinians, to about 
four hundred men, were at once set to work to raise a breast- 
work and to strengthen the fortification as far as possible. Forty 
or fifty Indian families took shelter in the fort, and among them 

30 



466 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Tanacharisson, or the half-king, and Queen Aliquippa. They 
proved to be of more trouble than advantage, being as spies and 
scouts of some service when rewarded, but in the fort useless. 
Before the completion of the ditch, M. De Villiers, a brother of 
De Jumonville, appeared on the 3d of July, 1754, in front of the 
fort with nine hundred men, and at eleven o'clock a.m., com- 
menced an attack by firing at the distance of six hundred yards, 
but without effect. The assailants fought, under cover of the 
trees and high grass, on rising ground near the fort. They were 
received with intrepidity by the Americans. Some of the In- 
dians climbed up trees overlooking the fort, and fired on Wash- 
ington's men, who returned the compliment in such style that the 
red men slipped down the trees with the celerity of monkeys, 
which excited a loud laugh among the Virginians. 

The rain fell heavily during the day; the trenches were filled 
with water; and many of the arms of Washington's men were 
out of order. The desultory engagement lasted till eight o'clock 
in the evening, when the French commander, having twice 
sounded a parley, and the stock of provisions and ammunition 
in the fort being much reduced, it was accepted. About mid- 
night, during a heavy rain, one half of the garrison being drunk, 
a capitulation took place, after the articles had been modified in 
some points at Washington's instance. The French at first de- 
manded a surrender of the cannon ; but this being resisted it was 
agreed that they should be destroyed, except one small piece re- 
served by the garrison upon the point of honor; but which they 
were eventually unable to remove. 

These guns, probably only spiked and abandoned, were subse- 
quently restored, and lay for a long time on the Great Meadows. 
After the Revolution it was an amusement of settlers moving 
westward, to discharge them. They were at last removed to 
Kentucky. 

The troops were to retain their other arms and baggage; to 
march out with drums beating and colors flying, and return home 
unmolested. The terms of the surrender, as published at the time 
from the duplicate copy retained by Colonel Washington, implied 
("by the too great condescension of Van Braam," the inter- 
preter) an acknowledgment on his part that M. de Jumonville 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 467 

had been "assassinated." It appears that Washington was mis- 
led by the inaccuracy of Van Braam in translating the word, he 
being a Dutchman, and the only officer in the garrison who was 
acquainted with the French language. It was so stormy at the 
time that he could not give a written translation of the articles, 
and they could scarcely keep a candle lighted to read them by, 
so that it became necessary to rely upon the interpreter's word. 
The American officers present afterwards averred that the word 
"assassination" was not mentioned, and that the terms employed 
were, "the death of Jumonville." The affair is involved in ob- 
scurity: for why should the French require Washington to 
acknowledge himself the author of "his death," unless the killing 
was unjustifiable? On the other hand, with what consistency 
could Villiers allow such honorable terms in the same articles in 
which it was demanded of Washington that he should sign a 
confession of his own disgrace? 

Of the Virginia regiment, three hundred and five in number, 
twelve were killed, and forty-three wounded. The loss sustained 
by Captain Mackay's Independent Company was not ascertained. 
Villiers' loss was three killed, and seventeen dangerously wounded. 
The horses and cattle having been captured or killed by the 
enemy, it was found necessary to abandon a large part of the 
baggage and stores, and to convey the remainder, with the 
wounded, on the backs of the soldiers. Washington had agreed 
to restore the prisoners taken at the skirmish with Jumonville ; 
and to insure this, two captains, Van Braam and Stobo, were 
given up as hostages. 

Washington, early on the 4th of July, 1754, perhaps the most 
humiliating of his life, marched out according to the terms; but 
in the confusion the Virginia standard, which was very large, was 
left behind, and was carried off in triumph by the enemy. But 
the regimental colors were preserved. In a short time the Vir- 
ginians met a body of Indians who plundered the baggage, and 
were with difficulty restrained from attacking the men. Wash- 
ington hastened back to Will's Creek, whence he proceeded to 
Williamsburg. The assembly voted him and his officers thanks, 
and gave him three hundred pistoles to be distributed among his 
men ; but dissatisfaction was expressed at some of the articles of 



468 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

capitulation when they came to be made public* Among the 
prisoners taken at the time when Jumonville was killed, was La 
Force, who, on account of his influence among the Indians, was 
looked upon as a dangerous character, and was imprisoned at 
Williamsburg. He managed to escape from prison in the summer 
of 1756, but was recaptured near West Point; and he was now 
kept in irons. This severe usage, and his being detained by Din- 
widdie a prisoner, in violation of the treaty of Fort Necessity, 
cannot be justified, and was unjust to Stobo and Van Braam, 
who were, consequently, long retained as prisoners of war, and 
for some time confined in prison at Quebec. It is true that the 
French suffered the Indians to violate the article of the treaty 
securing the troops from molestation; but an excuse might be 
found in the difficulty of restraining savages. 

Much blame was laid on poor Van Braam at the time, and in 
the thanks voted by the assembly his name was excepted, as 
having acted treacherously in interpreting the treaty. Washing- 
ington, who had shortly before the surrender pronounced' him 
"an experienced, good officer, and very worthy of the command 
he has enjoyed," appears to have been at a loss whether to attri- 
bute his misinterpretation to "evil intentions or negligence," but 
was rather disposed to believe that it was owing to his being but 
little acquainted with the English language. Van Braam ap- 
pears to have been rather hardly judged in this affair. f Stobo, a 
native of Scotland, who emigrated early to Virginia, was brave, 
energetic, and a man of genius, but eccentric; his fidelity was 
never doubted. He was an acquaintance of David Hume, and 
a friend of Smollett, and was, it is said, the original of the charac- 
ter of Lismahago. 

* Washington's Writings, ii. 45G. 

| Ibid., ii. 305, 456; Va. Hist. Register, v. 194; Hist, of Expedition against 
Fort Du Quesue, edited by Winthrop Sargent, Esq., and published by the Penn- 
sylvania Hist. Society, 51. 



CHAPTER LXI. 

1754-1735. 

Dimviddie's injudicious Orders — Washington resigns — Statistics — Braddock's 
arrival — Washington joins him as aid-de-camp — Braddock's Expedition — His 
Defeat — Washington's Bravery — His account of the Defeat. 

The Virginia regiment quartered at Winchester being re-en- 
forced by some companies from Maryland and North Carolina, 
Dinwiddie injudiciously ordered this force to march at once again 
over the Alleghanies, and expel the French from Fort Du 
Quesne, or build another near it. This little army was under 
command of Colonel Innes, of North Carolina, who, having 
brought three hundred and fifty men with him from that colony, 
had been appointed, upon Colonel Fry's death, commander-in- 
chief. Innes had been with Lawrence Washington at Cartha- 
gena. The force under Innes did not exceed half the number of 
the enemy, and was unprovided for a winter campaign. The 
assembly making no appropriation for the expedition, it was for- 
tunately abandoned. 

Two independent companies, ordered from New York by Din- 
widdie, arrived in Hampton Roads, in his majesty's ship Centaur, 
Captain Dudley Digges, in June, 1754. They were marched to 
Will's Creek, where they were joined by an independent company 
from South Carolina; and these troops, under command of Colo- 
nel Innes, during the autumn, built Fort Cumberland in the fork 
between Will's Creek and the north branch of the Potomac, on 
the Maryland side, about fifty-five miles northwest of Winches- 
ter. It was called after the Duke of Cumberland, captain- 
general of the British army. The fort was mounted with ten 
four-pounders, and some swivels; and contained magazines and 
barracks. A prosperous town has arisen on the spot. 

The North Carolina troops at Winchester, not duly receiving 
their pay, disbanded themselves in a disorderly way, and re- 
turned home. Dinwiddie wrote to the board of trade that "the 

(469) 



470 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

progress of tne French would never be effectually opposed, but 
by means of an act of parliament compelling the colonies to con- 
tribute to the common cause independently of assemblies;" and 
to the secretary of state: "I know of no method to compel 
them to their duty to the king, but by an act of parliament for a 
general poll-tax of two shillings and six pence a head, from all 
the colonies on this continent." This scheme had been sug- 
gested a long time before. 

In 1738 the assembly of Virginia, which had long exercised 
the right of choosing a treasurer, had placed their speaker, John 
Robinson, in that office; and he continuing to hold both place3 
for many years, exerted an undue influence over the assembly by 
lending the public money to the members. Dinwiddie ruled on 
ordinary occasions, but Robinson was dictator in all extraordi- 
nary emergencies.* 

When the assembly met in October, 1754, they granted twenty 
thousand pounds for the public exigencies; Maryland and New 
York also contributed their quotas to the common cause ; and Din- 
widdie received ten thousand pounds from England. He now 
enlarged the Virginia forces to ten companies, under the pretext 
of peremptory orders from England, and made each of them 
independent, with a view, as was alleged, of terminating the dis- 
putes between the regular and provincial officers respecting 
command. The effect of this upon Washington would have been 
to reduce him to the grade of captain, and to subject him to 
officers whom he had commanded; officers of the same rank, but 
holding the king's commission, would rank before him. This 
would have been the more mortifying to him, after the catas- 
trophe of the Great Meadows. He, therefore, although his 
inclinations were still strongly bent to arms, resigned, and passed 
the winter at Mount Vernon. He was now twenty-two years of 
age. 

In the meanwhile Horatio Sharpe, professionally a military 
man, and Lord Baltimore's lieutenant-governor of Maryland, 
was appointed by the crown commander-in-chief of the forces 
against the French. Colonel William Fitzhugh, of Virginia, 

* Chalmers' Revolt, ii. 353. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 471 

who was to command in the absence of Sharpe, had endeavored 
to persuade Washington to continue in the service, retaining for 
the present his commission of colonel. Replying in November, 
1754, he said: "If you think me capable of holding a commis- 
sion that has neither rank nor emolument annexed to it, you 
must entertain a very contemptible opinion of my weakness, and 
believe me to be more empty than the commission itself." 
"Washington was dissatisfied with Dinwiddie's action in this 
matter. 

The population of the American colonies at 'this period was 
estimated at 1,485,000, of whom 292,000 were blacks, and the 
number of fighting men 240,000; while the French population 
in Canada was not over 90,000. Virginia was reckoned the first 
of the cqlonies in power, Massachusetts the second, Pennsylvania 
the third, and Maryland the fourth ; and either one of these had 
greater resources than Canada. Yet the power of the French 
was more concentrated; they were better fitted for the emer- 
gencies of the war, and they had more regular troops.* The 
colonies were not united in purpose; and the Virginians were 
described by Dinwiddie as "an indolent people, and without mili- 
tary ardor." 

Sharpe's appointment was sent over by Arthur Dobbs, Gover- 
nor of North Carolina, who arrived in Hampton Roads on the 
first of October. Sharpe, proceeding to "Williamsburg, concerted 
with Dinwiddie and Dobbs a plan of operations against Fort Du 
Quesne. This plan was abandoned, owing to intelligence of the 
French being re-enforced by numerous Indian allies. 

In February, 1755, General Edward Braddock, newly ap- 
pointed commander-in-chief of all the military forces in America, 
arrived in Virginia with a small part of the troops of the intended 
expedition, the remainder arriving afterwards, being two British 
regiments, each consisting of five hundred men, the forty-fourth 
commanded by Sir Peter Ilalket, the forty-eighth by Colonel 
Dunbar. Braddock went immediately to "Williamsburg to confer 
with Dinwiddie. Sir John St. Clair, who had come over to 

* Chalmers' Revolt, ii. 273. 



472 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

America some time before, was already there awaiting the 
general's arrival. 

In compliance with Bracldock's invitation, dated the second of 
March, Washington entered his military family as a volunteer, 
retaining his former rank. This proceeding aroused his mother's 
tender solicitude, and she hastened to Mount Vernon to give 
expression to it. 

From Williamsburg Braddock proceeded to Alexandria, then 
sometimes called Belhaven, the original name, where he made his 
headquarters, the troops being quartered in that place and the 
neighborhood until they marched for Will's Creek. On the thir- 
teenth of April the governors of Massachusetts, New York, 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, met General Braddock 
at Alexandria, to concert a plan of operations. Washington was 
courteously received by the governors, especially by Shirley, 
with whose manners and character he was quite fascinated. 
Overtaking Braddock (who marched from Alexandria on the 
twentieth) at Frederictown, Maryland, he accompanied him to 
Winchester, and thence to Fort Cumberland. Early in May 
Washington was made an aid-de-camp to the general. Being 
dispatched to Williamsburg to convey money for the army-chest, 
he returned to the camp with it on the thirtieth. 

The army consisted of the two regiments of British regulars, 
together originally one thousand men, and augmented by Vir- 
ginia and Maryland levies to fourteen hundred. The Virginia 
captains were Waggener, Cock, Hogg, Stephen, Poulson, Pey- 
rouny, Mercer, and Stuart. The provincials included the frag- 
ments of two independent companies from New York, one of 
which was commanded by Captain Horatio Gates, afterwards a 
major-general in the revolutionary war. Of the remaining pro- 
vincials one hundred were pioneers and guides, called Hatchet- 
men : there were besides a troop of Virginia light-horse, and a 
few Indians. Thirty sailors were detached by Commodore Kep- 
pel, commander of the fleet that brought over the forces. The 
total effective force was about two thousand one hundred and 
fifty, and they were accompanied by the usual number of non- 
combatants. The army was detained by the difficulty of pro- 
curing provisions and conveyances. The apathy of the legisla- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 4T3 

turcs and the bad faith of the contractors, so irritated Braddock 
that he indulged in sweeping denunciations against the colonies. 
These led to frequent disputes between hirn and Washington, 
who found the exasperated general deaf to his arguments on that 
subject. The plan suggested bj him of employing pack-horses 
for transportation, instead of wagons, was afterwards in some 
measure adopted. 

Benjamin Franklin, deputy postmaster-general of the colonies, 
who, at Governor Shirley's instance, had accompanied him to 
the congress at Alexandria, visited Braddock at Frederictown, 
for the purpose of opening a post-route between Will's Creek and 
Philadelphia. Learning the general's embarrassment, he under- 
took to procure the requisite number of wagons and horses from 
the Pennsylvania farmers. Issuing a handbill addressed to their 
interests and their fears, and exciting among the Germans an 
apprehension of an arbitrary impressment to be enforced by Sir 
John St. Clair, "the Hussar," he was soon able to provide the 
general with the means of transportation.* It was a long time 
before Franklin recovered compensation for the farmers; Gover- 
nor Shirley at length paid the greater part of the amount, twenty 
thousand pounds ; but it is said that owing to the neglect of Lord 
Loudoun, Franklin was never wholly repaid. Washington and 
Franklin were both held in high estimation by Braddock, and 
they were unconsciously co-operating with him in a war destined 
in its unforeseen consequences to dismember the British empire. 

Braddock's army, with its baggage extending (along a road 
twelve feet wide) sometimes four miles in length, moved from 
Fort Cumberland, at the mouth of Will's Creek, early in June, 
and advanced slowly and with difficulty, five miles being con- 
sidered a good day's march. There was much sickness among 
the soldiers: Washington was seized with a fever, and obliged to 
travel in a covered wagon. Braddock, however, continued to 
consult him, and he advised the general to disencumber himself 
of his heavy guns and unnecessary baggage, to leave them with 
a rear division, and to press forward expeditiously to Fort Du 
Quesne. In a council of war it was determined that Braddock 

* Gordon's Hist, of Pa. ; Braddock's Expedition, 1G3. 



474 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

should advance as rapidly as possible with twelve hundred select 
men, and Colonel Dunbar follow on slowly with a rear-guard of 
about six hundred, — a number of the soldiers being disabled by 
sickness. The advance corps proceeded only nineteen miles in 
four days, losing occasionally a straggler, cut off by the French 
and Indian scouts. Trees were found near the road stripped of 
their barks and painted, and on them the French had written 
many of their names and the number of scalps recently taken, 
with many insolent threats and scurrilous bravados. 

Washington was now (by the general's order) compelled to 
stop, his physician declaring that his life would be jeoparded by 
a continuance with the army, and Braddock promising that he 
should be brought up with it before it reached Fort Du Quesne. 
On the day before the battle of the Monongahela, Washington, 
in a wagon, rejoined the army, at the mouth of the Youghiogany 
River, and fifteen miles from Fort Du Quesne. On the morning 
of Wednesday, the 9th of July, 1755, the troops, in high spirits, 
confident of entering the gates of Fort Du Quesne triumphantly 
in a few hours, crossed the Monongahela, and advanced along 
the southern margin. Washington, in after-life, was heard to 
declare it the most beautiful spectacle that he had ever witnessed 
— the brilliant uniform of the soldiers, arranged in columns and 
marching in exact order; the sun gleaming on their burnished 
arms; the Monongahela flowing tranquilly by on the one hand, 
on the other, the primeval forest projecting its shadows in sombre 
magnificence. At one o'clock the army again crossed the river 
at a second ford ten miles from Fort Du Quesne. From the 
river a level plain extends northward nearly half a mile, thence 
the ground, gradually ascending, terminates in hills. The road 
from the fording-place to the fort led across this plain, up this 
ascent, and through an uneven country covered with woods.* 
Beyond the plain on both sides of the road were ravines unnoticed 
by the English. Three hundred men, under Lieutenant-Colonel 
Gage, subsequently commander of the British troops at Boston, 
made the advanced party, and it was immediately followed by 
another of two hundred. Next came Braddock with the artil- 

* A plan of the ground is given in Washington's Writings, ii. 90. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 475 

lery, the main body, and the baggage. Brigadier- General Sir 
Peter Halket was second in command. No sooner had the army 
crossed the river, at the second ford, than a sharp firing was 
heard upon the advanced parties, who were now ascending the 
hill about a hundred yards beyond the edge of the plain.* 

At an early hour De Beaujeu had been detached from Fort Du 
Quesne, at the head of about two hundred and thirty French and 
Canadians, and six hundred and thirty Indian savages, with the 
design of attacking the English at an advantageous ground 
selected on the preceding evening. Before- reaching it he came 
upon the English. The greater part of Gage's command was ad- 
vanced beyond the spot where the main battle was fought, when 
Mr. Gordon, one of the engineers in front marking out the road, 
perceived the enemy bounding forward. Before them with long 
leaps came Beaujeu, the gay hunting-shirt and silver gorget de- 
noting him as the chief. Halting he waved his hat above his 
head, and at this signal the Indians dispersed themselves to the 
right and left, throwing themselves flat on the ground, or gliding 
behind rocks and trees into the ravines. The French occupied 
the centre of the Indian semicircle, and a fierce attack was com- 
menced. Gage's troops, recovering from their first surprise, opened 
a fire of grape and musketry. Beaujeu and twelve others fell 
dead upon the spot ; the Indians, astonished by the report of the 



* The surprise of the Roman army under Titurius Sabinus on his march, by 
the Gauls (as described by Caesar) resembles Braddock's defeat in several par- 
ticulars. 

"At hostes, posteaquam ex nocturno fremitu vigiliis que de profectione eorum 
senserunt, collocatis insidiis bipartito in silvis opportuno atque occulto loco, a 
millibus passuum circiter duobus, Romanorum adventum expectabant: ct cum 
se major pars agminis in magnam convallem demisisset, ex utraque parte ejus 
vallis subito se ostenderunt, novissimosque premere et primos prohibere ascensu 
atque iniquissimo nostris loco proelium committere coeperunt." Lucius Cotta 
was the Washington of that defeat: but he fell in the general massacre. "At 
Cotta qui cogitasset haec posse in itinere accidere, atque ob earn causam profec- 
tionis auctor non fuisset, nulla in re communi saluti deerat, et in appellandis 
cohortandipque militibus, imperatoris, et in pugna, militis officia prtestabat." 

The following sentence describes the war-whoop : "Tumvero suo more vic- 
toriam conclamant, atque ululatum tollunt, impetuque in nostros facto, ordines 
perturbant." 



476 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

cannon, began to fly. Rallied by Dumas, who succeeded Beau- 
jeu, they resumed the combat: the French in front, the Indians 
on the flank. For a time the issue was doubtful: cries of "Vive 
le Hoi" were answered by the cheers of the English. But while 
the officers of the Forty-fourth led on their men with waving 
swords, the enemy, concealed in the woods and ravines, secure 
and invisible, kept up a steady, well-aimed, and fatal fire. Their 
position was only discovered by the smoke of their muskets. 
Gage, not reinforcing his flanking parties, they were driven in, 
and the English, instead of advancing upon the hidden enemy, 
returned a random and ineffectual fire in full column. 

In the mean time Braddock sent forward Lieutenant-Colonel 
Burton with the vanguard. And while he was forming his men 
to face a rising ground on the right, the advanced detachment, 
overwhelmed with consternation by the savage war-whoop and 
the mysterious danger, fell back upon him in great confusion, 
communicating a panic from which they could not be recovered. 
Braddock now came up and endeavored to form the two regi- 
ments under their colors, but neither entreaties nor threats could 
prevail. The baggage in the rear was attacked, and many horses 
killed ; some of the drivers fell, the rest escaped by flight. Two 
of the cannon flanking the baggage for some time protected it 
from the Indians; the others fired away most of their am- 
munition, and were of some service in awing the enemy, but 
could do but little execution against a concealed foe. The enemy 
extended from front to rear, and fired upon every part at once. 
The general finding it impossible to persuade his men to advance, 
many officers falling, and no enemy appearing in sight, endeavored 
to effect a retreat in good order, but such was the panic that he 
could not succeed. They were loading as fast as possible and 
firing in the air. 

Braddock and his officers made every effort to rally them, but 
in vain; in this confusion and dismay they remained in a road 
twelve feet wide, enclosed by woods, for three hours, huddled 
together, exposed to the insidious fire, doing the enemy little 
hurt, and shooting one another. None of the survivors could 
afterwards say that they saw one hundred of the enemy, and 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 477 

many of the officers that were in the heat of the action would not 
assert that they saw one.* 

The Virginia troops preserved their presence of mind, and be- 
haved with the utmost bravery, adopting the Indian mode of 
combat, and fighting each man for himself behind a tree. This 
was done in spite of the orders of Braddock, who still endeavored 
to form his men into platoons and columns, as if they had been 
manoeuvring in the plains of Flanders or parading in Hyde Park. 
Washington and Sir Peter Halket in vain advised him to allow 
the men to shelter themselves : he stormed at such as attempted 
to take to the trees, calling them cowards, and striking them 
with his sword. Captain Waggener, of the Virginia troops, 
resolved to take advantage of the trunk of a tree five feet in 
diameter, lying athwart the brow of a hill. With shouldered 
firelocks he marched a party of eighty men toward it, and losing 
but three men on the way, the remainder throwing themselves 
behind it, opened a hot fire upon the enemy. But no sooner were 
the flash and report of their muskets perceived by the mob be- 
hind, than a general discharge was poured upon them, by which 
fifty were killed and the rest compelled to fly.| 

The French and Indians, concealed in deep ravines, and be- 
hind trees, and logs, and high grass, and tangled undergrowth, 
kept up a deadly fire, singling out their victims. The mounted 
officers were especially aimed at, and shortly after the commence- 
ment of the engagement, Washington was the only aid not 
wounded. Although still feeble from the effects of his illness, 
on him now was devolved the whole duty of carrying the general's 
orders, and he rode a conspicuous mark in every direction. Two 
horses were killed under him, four bullets penetrated his coat, 
but he escaped unhurt, while every other officer on horseback 
was either killed or wounded. Dr. Craik afterwards said: "I 
expected every moment to see him fall. His duty and situation 
exposed him to every danger. Nothing but the superintending 
care of Providence could have saved him from the fate of all 
around him." Washington, writing to his brother, said: "By 
the all-powerful dispensations of Providence I have been pro- 

* Bancroft, iv. 189. f Braddock's Expedition, 231. 



478 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

tected beyond all human probability or expectation, for I had 
four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me, yet 
escaped unhurt, although death was levelling my companions on 
every side." 

More than half of the army were killed or wounded, two-thirds 
of them, according to Washington's conjecture, by their own 
bullets; Sir Peter Halket was killed on the field; Shirley, Brad- 
dock's secretary, was shot through the head; Colonels Burton, 
Gage, and Orme, Major Sparks, Brigade-Major Halket, Captain 
Morris, etc., were wounded. Out of eighty-six officers, twenty- 
six were killed and thirty-seven wounded. The whole number of 
killed was estimated at four hundred and fifty-six, wounded four 
hundred and twenty one, the greater part of whom were brought 
off; the aggregate loss, eight hundred and seventy-seven. The 
enemy's force, variously estimated, did not exceed eight hundred 
and fifty men, of whom six hundred, it was conjectured, were 
Indians. The French loss was twenty-eight killed, including 
three officers, one of whom, Beaujeu, was chief in command; 
and twenty-nine badly wounded, including two officers. The 
French and Indians being covered by ravines, the balls of the 
English passed harmless over their heads; while a charge with 
the bayonet, or raking the ravines with cannon, would have at 
once driven them from their lurking places, and put them to 
flight, or, at the least, dispersed them in the woods. Any move- 
ment would have been better than standing still. 

During the action, or massacre, of three hours, Braddock had 
three horses killed under him, and two disabled. At five o'clock 
in the afternoon, while beneath a large tree standing between the 
heads of two ravines, and in the act of giving an order, he re- 
ceived a mortal wound. Falling from his horse, he lay helpless 
on the ground, surrounded by the dead. His army having fired 
away all their ammunition, now fled in disorder back to the 
Monongahela. Pursued to the water's edge by a party of 
savages, the regulars threw away arms, accoutrements, and even 
clothing, that they might run the faster. Many were toma- 
hawked at the fording-place; but those who crossed were not 
pursued, as the Indians returned to the harvest of plunder. The 
provincials, better acquainted with Indian warfare were less dis- 
concerted, and retreated with more composure. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 479 

Not one of his British soldiers could be prevailed upon to stay 
and aid in bearing off the wounded general. In vain Orme 
offered them a purse of sixty guineas. Braddock begged his 
faithful friends to provide for their own safety, and declared his 
resolution to die on the field. Orrne disregarded these desperate 
injunctions; and Captain Stewart, of the Virginia Light-horse, 
(attached to the general's person,) and his servant, together with 
another American officer, hastening to Orme's relief, brought off 
Braddock, at first on a small tumbrel, then on a horse, lastly by 
the soldiers. 

According to Washington's account, in a letter written to Din- 
widdie: "They were struck with such an inconceivable panic, 
that nothing but confusion and disobedience of orders prevailed 
among them. The officers in general behaved with incomparable 
bravery, for which they greatly suffered, there being upwards of 
sixty killed and wounded, a large proportion out of what we had. 
The Virginia companies behaved like men and died like soldiers; 
for, I believe, out of three companies on the ground that day, 
scarcely thirty men were left alive. Captain Peyrouny, a 
Frenchman by birth, and all his officers down to a corporal, were 
killed. Captain Poulson had almost as hard a fate, for only one 
of his escaped. In short, the dastardly behavior of the regular 
troops (so called) exposed those who were inclined to do their 
duty to almost certain death; and, at length, in spite of every 
effort to the contrary, they broke and ran like sheep before 
hounds, leaving the artillery, ammunition, provisions, baggage, 
and, in short, everything a prey to the enemy; and when we 
endeavored to rally them in hopes of regaining the ground and 
what we had left upon it, it was with as little success as if we 
had attempted to have stopped the wild bears of the mountains, 
or the rivulets with our feet; for they would break by in spite of 
every effort to prevent it." 

Braddock was brave and accomplished in European tactics; 
but not an officer of that comprehensive genius which knows how 
to bend and accommodate himself to circumstances. Burke says 
that a wise statesman knows how to be governed by circum- 
stances: the maxim applies as well to a military commander. 
Braddock, headstrong, passionate, irritated, not without just 
grounds, against the provinces, and pursuing the policy of the 



480 HISTORY Of THE COLONY AND 

British government to rely mainly on the forces sent over, and to 
treat the colonial troops as inferior and only secondary, rejected 
the proposal of Washington to lead in advance the provincials, 
who, accustomed to border warfare, knew better how to cope with 
a savage foe.* Braddock, however, showed that although he 
could not retrieve these errors, nor reclaim a degenerate soldiery, 
he could at any rate fall like a soldier. f 

Although no further pursued, the remainder of the army con- 
tinued their flight during the night and the next day. Braddock 
continued for two days to give orders ; and it was in compliance 
with them that the greater part of the artillery, ammunition, and 
other stores were destroyed. It was not until the thirteenth 
that the general uttered a word, except for military directions. 
He then bestowed the warmest praise on his gallant officers, and 
bequeathed, as is said, his charger, and his body-servant, 
Bishop, to Washington.^ The dying Braddock ejaculated in re- 
ference to the defeat, "Who would have thought it?" Turning 
to Orine he remarked, "We shall better know how to deal with 
them another time;" and in a few moments expired, at eight 
o'clock, in the evening of Sunday, the 13th of July, 1755, 
at the Great Meadows. On the next morning he was buried in 
the road, near Fort Necessity, Washington, in the absence of the 
chaplain, who was wounded, reading the funeral service. Wash- 
ington retired to Mount Vernon, oppressed with the sad retrospect 
of the recent disaster. But his reputation was greatly elevated 
by his signal gallantry on this occasion. Such dreary portals 
open the road of fame. 

The green and bosky scene of battle was strewn with the 
wounded and the dead. Toward evening the forest resounded 



* Chalmers' Hist, of Revolt, ii. 270. True to his unvarying prejudice against 
the colonies, he justifies the conduct of Braddock. 

-j- The History of Braddock's Expedition, by Winthrop Sargent, Esq., is full, 
elaborate, and authentic. The volume, a beautiful specimen of typography, was 
printed, 1856, by Messrs. J. B. Lippincott & Co., for the Pennsylvania Historical 
Society. I am indebted to Townsend Ward, Esq., Librarian, for a copy of it. 

J Gilbert, a slave, is said to have been with Washington at the battle of the 
Monongahela, and at the siege of York. John Alton is likewise mentioned as a 
servant attending him during Braddock's expedition. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 481 

with the exulting cries and war-whoop of the returning French 
and Indians, the firing of small arms, and the responsive roar of 
the cannon at the fort. A lonely American prisoner confined 
there listened during this anxious day to the various sounds, and 
with peering eye explored the scene. Presently he saw the 
greater part of the savages, painted and blood-stained, bringing 
scalps, and rejoicing in the possession of grenadiers' caps, and 
the laced hats and splendid regimentals of the English officers. 
Next succeeded the French, escorting a long train of pack-horses 
laden with plunder. Last of all, just before sunset, appeared a 
party of Indians conducting twelve British regulars, naked, their 
faces blackened, their hands tied behind them. In a short while 
they were burned to death on the opposite bank of the Ohio, 
with every circumstance of studied barbarity and inhuman tor- 
ture, the French garrison crowding the ramparts of the fort to 
witness the spectacle. 

The remains of the defeated detachment retreated to the rear 
division in precipitate disorder, leaving the road behind them 
strewed with signs of the disaster. Shortly after, Colonel Dun- 
bar marched with the remaining regulars to Philadelphia. Colo- 
nel Washington returned home, mortified and indignant at the 
conduct of the regular troops. 

31 



CHAPTER LXII. 

Stith — Davies visits England and Scotland — Patriotic Discourse — Waddel, the 
Blind Preacher — Washington made Colonel of Virginia Regiment — Indian 
Incursions — AVashington visits Boston. 

During the year 1755 died the Rev. William Stith, president 
of the College of William and Mary, and author of an excellent 
"History of Virginia," from the first settlement to the dissolu- 
tion of the London Company. He was of exemplary character 
and catholic spirit, a friend of well-regulated liberty, and a true 
patriot. 

The Rev. Samuel Davies, during the year 1754, went on a 
mission to England and Scotland for the purpose of raising a 
fund for the endowment of a college at Princeton, New Jersey. 
His eloquence commanded admiration in the mother country. 
The English Presbyterians he found sadly fallen away from the 
doctrines of the Reformation, and their clergy, although learned 
and able, deeply infected with the "modish divinity" — Socinian- 
ism and Arminianism. In Scotland, where he met a warm 
welcome, he found the young clergy no less imbued with the 
"modish divinity," and the cause of religion and the spiritual 
independence of the kirk lamentably impaired by the overween- 
ing influence of secular patronage. Davies was of opinion that 
in genuine piety the Methodists, who commenced their reform in 
the Church of England, ranked the highest. He returned to 
Virginia early in 1755, and during the French and Indian wars 
he often employed his eloquence in arousing the patriotism of the 
Virginians. 

After Braddock's defeat, such was the general consternation 

that many seemed ready to desert the country. On the 20th of 

July, 1755, Davies delivered a discourse, in which he declared: 

" Christians should be patriots. What is that religion good for 

(482) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 483 

that leaves men cowards upon the appearance of danger ? And 
permit me to say, that I am particularly solicitous that you, my 
brethren of the dissenters, should act with honor and spirit in 
this juncture, as it becomes loyal subjects, lovers of your country, 
and courageous Christians. That is a mean, sordid, cowardly 
soul that would abandon his country and shift for his own little 
self, when there is any probability of defending it. To give the 
greater weight to what I say, I may take the liberty to tell you, 
I have as little personal interest, as little to lose in the colony, as 
most of you. If I consulted either my safety or my temporal 
interest, I should soon remove with my family to Great Britain, 
or the Northern colonies, where I have had very inviting offers. 
Nature has not formed me for a military life, nor furnished me 
with any great degree of fortitude and courage; yet I must de- 
clare, that after the most calm and impartial deliberation, I am 
determined not to leave my country while there is any prospect 
of defending it."* 

Dejection and alarm vanished under his eloquence, and at the 
conclusion of his address every man seemed to say, "Let us 
march against the enemy!" A patriotic discourse was delivered 
by him on the 17th of August, 1755, before Captain Overton's 
company of Independent Volunteers, the first volunteer company 
raised in Virginia after Braddock's defeat. In a note appended 
to this discourse, Davies said: "As a remarkable instance of this, 
I may point out to the public that heroic youth, Colonel Wash- 
ington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto pre- 
served in so signal a manner for some important service to his 
country. "f 

It is probable that Patrick Henry caught the spark of elo- 
quence from Davies, as in his early youth, and in after years, he 
often heard him preach. They were alike gifted with a profound 
sensibility. Henry always remarked that Mr. Davies was "the 



* Davies' Sermons, iii. 1G9; Sermon on the defeat of General Braddock 
going to Fort Du Quesne; Memoir of Davies in Evan, and Lit. Mag. 

f Davies' Sermons, iii. 38. "Who is Mr. Washington?" inquired Lord Hali- 
fax. " I know nothing of him," he added ; " but they say he behaved in Brad- 
dock's action as bravely as if he really loved the whistling of bullets." 



484 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

greatest orator he had ever heard." Presbyter ianism steadily 
advanced in Virginia under the auspices of Davies and his 
successors, particularly Graham, Smith, Waddell, "the blind 
preacher" of Wirt's "British Spy," and Brown. 

The Rev. James Waddell, a Presbyterian minister, was born in 
the North of Ireland, in July, 1789, as is believed. He was 
brought over in his infancy by his parents to America ; they set- 
tled in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania, on White-clay 
Creek. James was sent to school at Nottingham to Dr. Finley, 
afterwards president of the College of New Jersey. In the school 
young Waddell made such proficiency in his studies as to become 
an assistant teacher; and Dr. Benjamin Rush, the signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, recited lessons to him there. He 
devoted his attention chiefly to the classics, in which he became 
very well versed. He was afterwards an assistant to the elder 
Smith, father of the Rev. John Blair Smith, president of Hamp- 
den Sidney College, Virginia, and of the Rev. Samuel Stanhope 
Smith, president of the College of New Jersey. Waddell, in- 
tending to pursue the vocation of a teacher, and to settle with 
that view at Charleston, in South Carolina, set out for the South. 
In passing through Virginia he met with the celebrated preacher, 
Davies, and that incident gave a different turn to his life. 
Shortly after, he became an assistant to the Rev. Mr. Todd in his 
school in the County of Louisa, with whom he studied theology. 
He was licensed to preach in 1761, and ordained in the following 
year, when he settled as pastor in Lancaster County. Here, 
about the year 1768, he married Mary, daughter of Colonel 
James Gordon, of that county,* a wealthy and influential man. 
In the division of the Presbyterian Church Mr. Waddell was of 
the "New Side," as it was termed. The Rev. Samuel Davies 
often preached to Mr. Waddell's congregation; as also did White- 
field several times. 

In the year 1776 Mr. Waddell removed from Lower Virginia, in 
very feeble health, to Augusta County. His salary was now 
only forty-five pounds, Virginia currency, per annum. In 1783 



* Ancestor of the late General Gordon, of Albemarle. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 485 

he came to reside at an estate purchased by him, and called 
Hopewell, at the junction of Louisa, Orange, and Albemarle — 
the dwelling-house being in Louisa. Here he again became a 
classical teacher, receiving pupils in his own house. James Bar- 
bour, afterwards governor of Virginia, was one of these, and 
Merriwether Lewis, the companion of Clarke in the exploration 
beyond the Rocky Mountains, another. Mr. Waddell resided in 
Louisa County about twenty years, and died there, and was 
buried, according to his request, in his garden. During his resi- 
dence here he was, for a part of the time, deprived of his sight ; 
but he continued to preach. In person he was tall and erect; 
his complexion fair, with a light blue eye. His deportment 
was dignified; his manners elegant and graceful. He is repre- 
sented by Mr. Wirt, in the "British Spy," as preaching in a 
white linen cap; this was, indeed, a part of his domestic cos- 
tume, but when he went abroad he always wore a large full- 
bottomed wig, perfectly white. Mr. Wirt held him as equal to 
Patrick Henry, in a different species of oratory. In regard to 
place, time, costume, and lesser particulars, Mr. Wirt used an 
allowable liberty in grouping together incidents which had 
occurred apart, and perhaps imagining, as in a sermon, expres- 
sions which had been uttered at the fire-side. Patrick Henry's 
opinion of Mr. Waddell's eloquence has been before mentioned. 
It was the remark of another cotemporary, that wdien he 
preached, "whole congregations were bathed in tears." It might 
also be said by his grave, as at that of John Knox, — 

"Here lies one who never feared the face of man." 

The late Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander married a daughter of 
Dr. Waddell, and the late Rev. Dr. James Waddell Alexander thus 
derived his middle name. 

August, 1755, the assembly voted forty thousand pounds for 
the public service, and the governor and council immediately re- 
solved to augment the Virginia Regiment to sixteen companies, 
numbering fifteen hundred men. To Washington was granted 
the sum of three hundred pounds in reward for his gallant beha- 
vior and in compensation for his losses at the battle of Mononga • 
hela. Colonel Washington was, during this month, commissioned 



486 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

commander-in-chief of the forces, and allowed to appoint his own 
officers. The officers next in rank to him were Lieutenant- 
Colonel Adam Stephen and Major Andrew Lewis. Washing- 
ton's military reputation was now high, not only in Virginia, but 
in the other colonies. Peyton Randolph raised a volunteer com- 
pany of one hundred gentlemen, who, however, proved quite unfit 
for the frontier service. 

After organizing the regiment and providing the commissariat, 
Washington repaired early in October to Winchester, and took 
such measures as lay in his power to repel the cruel outrages of 
a savage irruption. Alarm, confusion, and disorder prevailed, so 
that he found no orders obeyed but such as a party of soldiers, 
or his own drawn sword, enforced. He beheld with emotion 
calamities which he could not avert, and he strenuously urged 
the necessity of an act to enforce the military law, to remedy 
the insolence of the soldiers and the indolence of the officers. 
He even intimated a purpose of resigning, unless his authority 
should be re-enforced by the laws, since he found himself thwarted 
in his exertions at every step by a general perverseness and in- 
subordination, aggravated by the hardships of the service and 
the want of system. At length, by persevering solicitations, he 
prevailed on the assembly to adopt more energetic military regu- 
lations. The discipline thus introduced was extremely rigorous, 
severe flogging being in ordinary use. The penalty for fighting 
was five hundred lashes; for drunkenness, one hundred. The 
troops were daily drilled and practised in bush-fighting. A Cap- 
tain Dagworthy, stationed at Fort Cumberland, commissioned by 
General Sharpe, governor of Maryland, refusing, as holding a 
king's commission, to obey Washington's orders, the dispute was 
referred by Governor Dinwiddie to General Shirley, commander- 
in-chief of his majesty's armies in America, who was then at 
Boston. He was also requested to grant royal commissions to 
Colonel Washington and his field-officers, such commissions to 
imply rank but to give no claim to pay. 

The Indians, after committing murders and barbarities upon 
the unhappy people of the border country, retired beyond the 
mountains. Colonel Byrd and Colonel Randolph were sent out 
with presents to the Cherokees, Catawbas, and other Southern 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 487 

Indians, in order to conciliate their good-will and counteract the 
intrigues of the French. 

Colonel Washington obtained leave to visit General Shirley, so 
as to deliver in person a memorial from the officers of the Virgi- 
nia Regiment, requesting him to grant them king's commissions; 
and also in order to make himself better acquainted with the 
military plans of the North. He set out from Alexandria early 
in February, 1756, accompanied by his aid-de-camp, Colonel 
George Mercer, and on his route passed through Philadelphia, 
New York, New London, Newport, and Providence. He visited 
the governors of Pennsylvania and New York, and spent several 
days in each of the principal cities. He was well received by 
General Shirley, with whom he continued ten days, mingling with 
the society of Boston, attending the sessions of the legislature, 
and visiting Castle William. During the tour he was everywhere 
looked upon with interest as the hero of the Monongahela. 
Shirley decided the contested point between Dagworthy and him 
in his favor. 

While in New York he was a guest of his friend Beverley Ro- 
binson (brother of the speaker.) Miss Mary Philipse, a sister of 
Mrs. Robinson, and heiress of a vast estate, was an inmate of the 
family, and Washington became enamored of her. The flame 
was transient; he probably having soon discovered that another 
suitor was preferred to him. She eventually married Captain 
Roger Morris, his former associate in arms, and one of Brad- 
dock's aids. She and her sister, Mrs. Robinson, and Mrs. Inglis, 
were the only females who were attainted of high treason during 
the Revolution. Imagination dwells on the outlawry of a lady 
who had won the admiration of Washington. Humanity is 
shocked that a w T oman should have been attainted of treason for 
clinging to the fortunes of her husband.* Mary Philipse is the 
original of one of the characters in Cooper's "Spy." 

* Sabine's Loyalists, 47G. 



CHAPTER LXIII. 



1756-1758. 



First Settlers of the Valley — Sandy Creek Expedition — Indian Irruption — Mea- 
sures of Defence — Habits of Virginians — Washington and Dinwiddie — Congress 
of Governors — Dinwiddie succeeded by Blair — Davies' Patriotic Discourse. 

The inhabitants of tramontane Virginia are very imperfectly 
acquainted with its history. This remark applies particularly to 
that section commonly called the Valley of Virginia, which, lying 
along the Blue Ridge, stretches from the Potomac to the Alle- 
ghany Mountains. Of this many of the inhabitants know little 
more than what they see. They see a country possessing salu- 
brity and fertility, yielding plentifully, in great variety, most of 
the necessaries of life, a country which has advantages, conveni- 
ences, and blessings, in abundance, in profusion, it may almost be 
said in superfluity. But they know not how it came into the 
hands of the present occupants ; they know not who were the first 
settlers, whence they came, at what time, in what numbers, nor 
what difficulties they had to encounter, nor what was the progress 
of population. One who would become acquainted with these 
matters must travel back a century or more ; he must witness the 
early adventurers leaving the abodes of civilization, and singly, 
or in families, or in groups composed of several families, like 
pioneers on a forlorn hope, entering the dark, dreary, trackless 
forest, which had been for ages the nursery of wild beasts and 
the pathway of the Indian. After traversing this inhospitable 
solitude for days or weeks, and having become weary of their 
pilgrimage, they determined to separate, and each family taking 
its own course in quest of a place where they may rest, they 
find a spot such as choice, chance, or necessity points out; here 
they sifc down ; this they call their home — a cheerless, houseless 
home. If they have a tent, they stretch it, and in it they all 
nestle ; otherwise the umbrage of a wide-spreading oak, or may- 
hap the canopy of heaven, is their only covering. In this new- 
(488) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 489 

found homo, while they are not exempt from the common frailties 
and ills of humanity, many peculiar to their present condition 
thicken around them. Here they must endure excessive labor, 
fatigue, and exposure to inclement seasons; here innumerable 
perils and privations await them ; here they are exposed to alarms 
from wild beasts and from Indians. Sometimes driven from 
home, they take shelter in the breaks and recesses of the moun- 
tains, where they continue for a time in a state of anxious sus- 
pense; venturing at length to reconnoitre their home, they per- 
haps find it a heap of ruins, the whole of their little peculium 
destroyed. This frequently happened. The inhabitants of the 
country being few, and in most cases widely separated from each 
other, each group, fully occupied with its own difficulties and dis- 
tresses, seldom could have the consolation of hoping for the 
advice, assistance, or even sympathy of each other. Many of 
them, worn out by the hardships inseparable from their new con- 
dition, found premature graves; many hundreds, probably thou- 
sands, were massacred by the hands of the Indians; and peace 
and tranquillity, if they came at all, came at a late day to the few 
survivors. 

"Tantas erat molis — condere gentem." 

Here have been stated a few items of the first cost of this 
country, but the half has not been told, nor can we calculate in 
money the worth of the sufferings of these people, especially we 
cannot estimate in dollars and cents the value of the lives that 
were lost.* 

In the year 1756 took place the "Sandy Creek Expedition" 
against the Shawnees on the Ohio River. With the exception of 
a few Cherokees, it consisted exclusively of Virginia troops, under 
the conduct of Major Andrew Lewis. f Although this expedition 
proved in the event abortive, yet its incidents, as far as known, 
are interesting. Nor are such abortive enterprises without their 
useful effects: they are the schools of discipline, the rehearsals 
of future success. The rendezvous from which the expedition 

* Memoir of Battle of Point Pleasant, by Samuel L. Campbell, M.D., of Rock- 
bridge County, Va. 

| Washington's Writings, ii. 125; Va. Hist. Reg. 



490 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

started was Fort Frederick, on New River, in what was then 
Augusta County. Under Major Andrew Lewis were Captains 
William Preston, Peter Hogg, John Smith, Archibald Alexander, 
father of Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander, Breckenridge, Woodson, 
and Overton. Their companies appear to have been already 
guarding the frontier when called upon for this new service. 
There were also the volunteer companies of Captains Montgomery 
and Dunlap, and a party of Cherokees under Captain Paris. A 
party of this tribe had come to the assistance of the Virginians 
in the latter part of 1755, and they were ordered by Governor 
Dinwiddie to join the Sandy Creek Expedition; but whether 
they all actually joined it is not known. The war leaders of 
these savages were old Outacite', the Round 0, and the Yellow 
Bird. Captain David Stewart,* of Augusta, seems to have acted 
as commissary to the expedition. The whole force that marched 
from Fort Frederick amounted to three hundred and forty. While 
waiting to procure horses and pack-saddles, the soldiers were 
preached to by the pioneer Presbyterian clergymen of the valley, 
Craig and Brown. Major Lewis marched on the eighteenth of 
February, and passing by the Holston River and the head of the 
Clinch, they reached the head of Sandy Creek on the twenty- 
eighth. This stream was found exceedingly tortuous; on the 
twenty-ninth, they crossed it sixty-six times in the distance of 
fifteen miles. Although some bears, deer, and buffaloes were 
killed, yet their provisions began to run low early in March, 
when they were reduced to half a pound of flour per man, and no 
meat except what they could kill, which was very little. There 
being no provender for the horses, they strayed away. The 
march was fatiguing, the men having frequently to wade labo- 
riously across the deepening water of the river; they suffered 
with hunger, and starvation began to stare them in the face. 
The Cherokees undertook to make bark canoes to convey them- 
selves down the creek, and Lewis ordered a large canoe to be 
made to transport the ammunition and the remaining flour. The 



* Father of the late Judge Archibald Stewart, of Augusta County, and grand- 
father of the Honorable A. H. H. Stewart, Secretary of the Interior under 
President Taylor. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 491 

men murmured, and many threatened to return home. Lewis 
ordered a cask of butter to be divided among them. An advance 
party of one hundred and thirty, with nearly all of the horses, 
proceeded down the creek, Lewis with the rest remaining to com- 
plete the canoes. No game was met with by the party proceed- 
ing down the stream, and the mountains were found difficult to 
cross. Hunger and want increased, and the men became almost 
mutinous. Captain Preston proposed to kill the horses for food, 
but this offer was rejected. About this time some elks and buf- 
faloes were killed, and this relief rescued some of the men from 
the jaws of starvation. The advance party had now, as they 
supposed, reached the distance of fifteen miles below the forks 
of the Sandy. Captain Preston, who commanded it, was greatly 
perplexed at the discontents which prevailed, and which threat- 
ened the ruin of the expedition. The men laid no little blame 
on the commissaries, who had furnished only fifteen days' provi- 
sion for what they supposed to be a march of three hundred 
miles. Major Lewis preserved his equanimity, and remarked 
that "he had often seen the like mutiny among soldiers." On 
the eleventh of March ten men deserted; others preparing to 
follow them, were disarmed and forcibly detained, but some of 
them soon escaped. They were pursued and brought back. 
When Major Lewis rejoined the advance party, one of his men 
brought in a little bear, which he took to Captain Preston's tent, 
where the major lodged that night, "by which," says Preston, 
"I had a good supper and breakfast — a rarity." Major Lewis 
addressed the men, encouraging them to believe that they would 
soon reach the hunting-ground and find game, and reminded them 
that the horses would support them for some time. The men, 
nevertheless, appeared obstinately bent upon returning home, for 
they said that if they went forward they must either perish or 
eat horses — neither of which they were willing to do. The major 
then, stepping off a few yards, called upon all those who would 
serve their country and share his fate, to go with him. All the 
officers and some twenty or thirty privates joined him; the rest 
marched off. In this conjuncture, when deserted by his own 
people, Lewis found old Outacite', the Cherokee chief, willing to 
stand by him. Outacite' remarked, that "the white men could 



■ID:! history of the colony and 

not bear hunger like Indians." The expedition was now, of 
necessity, abandoned when they had arrived near the Ohio River, 

and all made the best of their way home. 

[t appears to have required two weeks for them to reach the 

nearest settlements, and during this interval they endured great 

sufferings from cold and hunger, and some who separated from 

the main body, and undertook to support themselves on the way 
baok by hunting, perished. When the main body reached the 

Burning Spring, in what is now Logan County, they out some 

buffalo hides, wliieh ihey had left (here on the way down, into 

tuggs <>r long thongs, and ate them, after exposing them to the 
flame of the Burning Spring. Hence Tugg River, separating 
Virginia from Kentuoky, derives its name. During the last two 

or three days, it is said that they ate the Strings of their mocca- 
sins, hells of their hunt in^ shirts, and shot-pouch flaps. The art 
of extracting nutriment from sneh articles is now lost. 

"■The Sandy Creek Voyage," as it was sometimes styled, 
appears to have been directed against the Shawnee town near the 
junction of the Kanawha and the Ohio, and perhaps to erect a 
fort there. The conduct of the expedition was left almost en- 
tirely to the discretion of Major Lewis.* Washington predicted 
the failure of the expedition, on account- of the length of the 
march, and even if it- reached the Ohio, " as we are told that those 
Indians are removed up the river into the neighborhood of Fort 

Pu Quesne."f 

Old Outaeite, or the Man-killer, was in distinction among the 
Cherokee chiefs, second only to Attacullaculla, or the Little 
Carpenter. Outaeite attained a venerable age, and continued to 
be a steadfast friend of the whiles. At- the massacre commit ted 
near fort Loudoun, by his interposition he rescued many from 
destruction. 

Early in April, ITAti, another Indian irruption, led on by the 
French, spread consternation in the tramontane country, and 
threatened to exterminate the inhabitants. Washington, now 



* Lyman 0. Draper, in Va. Hist. Register, 61 ; Howe's Hist. Collections of 
Va., 862. 
•(• Washington's Writings, Li. !-<">, i;;r>. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 493 

aged twenty-four, gave it as Ins opinion that "five hundred In- 
dians have it more in their power to annoy the inhabitants than 
ten times their number of regulars." While the unhappy people 
were flying from the barbarous foe, Washington, in view of the 
inadequate means of protection, wrote to Governor Dinwiddie: 
"The supplicating tears of the women and moving petitions of 
the men melt me into such deadly sorrow, that I solemnly de- 
clare, if I know my own mind, I could offer myself a willing 
sacrifice to the butchering enemy, provided that would contribute 
to the people's ease." In this sentence we find the key to his 
whole character and history. 

The governor immediately gave orders for a re-enforcement of 
militia to assist him. The "Virginia Gazette," however, cast 
discredit and blame on Washington and the force under his com- 
mand. Virginia continued to be too parsimonious and too indif- 
ferent to the sufferings of her people beyond the mountains. The 
woods appeared to be alive with French and Indians ; each day 
brought fresh disasters and alarms. Washington found no lan- 
guage expressive enough to portray the miseries of the country. 
Affording all the succor in his power, he called upon the governor 
for arms, ammunition, and provisions, and gave it as his opinion 
that a re-enforcement of Indian allies was indispensable, as In- 
dians alone could be effectually opposed to Indians. Winchester, 
incorporated in 1752, was now almost the only settlement west 
of the Blue Ridge that was not almost entirely deserted, the few 
families that remained being sheltered in forts. West of the 
North Mountain the country was depopulated, save a few families 
on the South Branch of the Potomac and on the Cacapehon. 
About the close of April the French and Indians returned to 
Fort Du Quesne laden with plunder, prisoners, and scalps. 

Governor Dinwiddie recommended to the board of trade an ex- 
tensive cordon of forts, to cover the entire frontier of the colonies 
from Crown Point to the country of the Creek Indians. His 
project was to pay for these forts and support their garrisons by 
a land and poll tax, levied on all the colonies by an act of parlia- 
ment. Washington advised that Virginia should guard her fron- 
tier by additional forts about fifteen miles apart. Fort Loudoun 
was erected at Winchester, the key of that region, under his 



494 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

superintendence. It was a square with four bastions; the bat- 
teries mounted twenty-four guns; a well was sunk, mostly through 
a bed of limestone ; the barracks were sufficient for four hundred 
and fifty men. Vestiges of this fortification still remain. Win- 
chester, after the erection of Fort Loudoun, increased rapidly, 
owing to its being the rendezvous of the Virginia troops: in 1759 
it contained two hundred houses. 

It is remarkable that as late as the year 1756, when the colony 
was a century and a half old, the Blue Ridge of mountains was 
virtually the western boundary of Virginia, and great difficulty 
was found in completing a single regiment for the protection of 
the inhabitants of the border country from the cruel irruptions 
of the Indians. Yet at this time the population of the colony 
was estimated at two hundred and ninety-three thousand, of whom 
one hundred and seventy-three thousand were white, and one 
hundred and twenty thousand black, and the militia were com- 
puted at thirty-five thousand fit to bear arms. 

Dinwiddie wrote to Fox, (father of Charles James,) one of the 
secretaries of state: "We dare not venture to part with any of 
our white men any distance, as we must have a watchful eye over 
our negro slaves, who are upwards of one hundred thousand." 
Some estimated them at one hundred and fifty thousand, equal 
in number to the whites, but the smaller estimate is probably 
more correct. The increase of the blacks was rapid, and many 
lamented that the mother country should suffer such multitudes 
to be brought from Africa to gratify the African Company, "and 
overrun a dutiful colony." As to the question whether enslaving 
the negroes is consistent with Christianity, the Rev. Peter Fon- 
taine remarks: "Like Adam, we are all apt to shift off the blame 
from ourselves and lay it upon others; how justly, in our case, 
you may judge. The negroes are enslaved by the negroes them- 
selves before they are purchased by the masters of the ships who 
bring them here. It is, to be sure, at our choice whether we 
buy them or not; so this, then, is our crime, folly, or whatever 
you will please to call it. But our assembly, foreseeing the ill 
consequences of importing such numbers among us, hath often 
attempted to lay a duty upon them which would amount to a pro- 
hibition, such as ten or twenty pounds a head; but no governor 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 495 

dare pass such a law, having instructions to the contrary from 
the board of trade at home. By this means they are forced upon 
us whether we will or will not. This plainly shows the African 
Company hath the advantage of the colonies, and may do as it 
pleases with the ministry." " To live in Virginia without slaves is 
morally impossible," and it was a hard task for the planter to 
perform his duty toward them ; for, on the one hand, if they were 
not compelled to work hard, he would endanger his temporal 
ruin ; on the other hand, was the danger of not being able, in a 
better world, to render a good account of his humane steward- 
ship of them.* 

A long interval of tranquillity had enervated the planters of 
Virginia; luxury had introduced effeminate manners and disso- 
lute habits. "To eat and drink delicately and freely; to feast, 
and dance, and riot; to pamper cocks and horses; to observe the 
anxious, important, interesting event, which of two horses can 
run fastest, or which of two cocks can flutter and spur most dex- 
terously; these are the grand affairs that almost engross the 
attention of some of our great men. And little low-lived sinners 
imitate them to the utmost of their power. The low-born sinner 
can leave a needy family to starve at home, and add one to the 
rabble at a horse-race or a cock-fight. He can get drunk and 
turn himself into a beast with the lowest as well as his betters 
with more delicate liquors." Burk, the historian of Virginia, 
who was by no means a rigid censor, noticing the manners of the 
Virginians during the half century preceding the Revolution, 
says: "The character of the people for hospitality and expense 
was now decided, and the wealth of the land proprietors, par- 
ticularly on the banks of the rivers, enabled them to indulge their 
passions even to profusion and excess. Drinking parties were 
then fashionable, in which the strongest head or stomach gained 
the victory. The moments that could be spared from the bottle 
were devoted to cards. Cock-fighting was also fashionable, "f 
On the same pages he adds: "I find, in 1747, a main of cocks 
advertised to be fought between Gloucester and James River. 



* Huguenot Family, 348, 851. 
f Burk's Hist, of Va., iii. 402. 



496 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

The cocks on one side were called ' Bacon 's Tlmnderlolts,'' after 
the celebrated rebel of 1676." 

The pay of the soldiers in 1756 was but eight pence a day, of 
which two pence was reserved for supplying them with clothes. 
The meagre pay, and the practice of impressing vagrants into 
the military service, increased much the difficulty of recruiting 
and of enforcing obedience and subordination. Even Indians 
calling themselves friendly did not scruple to insult and annoy 
the inhabitants of the country through which they passed. One 
hundred and twenty Cherokees, passing through Lunenburg 
County, insulted people of all ranks, and a party of Catawbas 
behaved so outrageously at Williamsburg that it was necessary 
to call out the militia. 

Although Governor Dinwiddie was an able man, his zeal in 
military affairs sometimes outstripped his knowledge, and Wash- 
ington was at times distracted by inconsistent and impracticable 
orders, and harassed by undeserved complaints. It was indeed 
alleged by some, that if he could have withstood the strong in- 
terest arrayed in favor of Washington, the governor would rather 
have given the command to Colonel Lines, although far less com- 
petent, and an inhabitant of another colony, North Carolina. 
Dinwiddie's partiality to Innes was attributed, by those unfriendly 
to the governor, to national prejudice, for they were both natives 
of Scotland.* Yet it appears by Dinwiddie's letters that he 
urgently pressed the rank of colonel on Washington. f Wash- 
ington, in his letters to Speaker Robinson, complains heavily of 
the governor's line of conduct, and Robinson's replies were such 
as would widen the breach.^ The tenor of the governor's corre- 
spondence with Washington, in 1757, became so ungracious, per- 
emptory, and even offensive, that he could not but attribute the 
change in his conduct toward him to some secret detraction, and 
lie gave utterance to a noble burst of eloquent self-defence. 
Dinwiddie's position was indeed trying, his measures being 
thwarted by a rather disaffected legislature and an arrogant 
aristocracy, and the censures thrown upon him, coming to us 



* Bancroft, iv. 223. f Sparks' Writings of Washington, ii. 262. 

% Washington's Writings, ii. 217, in note. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 497 

through a discolored medium of prejudice, ought to be taken 
■with much allowance. However this may be, harsh and rather 
overbearing treatment from a British governor, together with the 
invidious distinctions drawn between colonial and British officers 
in regard to rank, naturally tended to abate Washington's loyalty, 
and thus gradually to fit him for the great part w T hich he was 
destined to perform in the war of Independence. 

Lord Loudoun, the newly-appointed governor of Virginia, and 
commander-in-chief of the colonies, now arrived in America, and 
called a conference of governors and military officers to meet him 
at Philadelphia. Washington, by the rather ungracious and re- 
luctant leave of Dinwiddie, attended the conference. Yet Din- 
widdie, in his letters to Loudoun, said of him: "He is a very 
deserving gentleman, and has from the beginning commanded 
the forces of this Dominion. He is much beloved, has gone 
through many hardships in the service, has great merit, and can 
raise more men here than any one." He therefore urged his 
promotion to the British establishment.* Washington had pre- 
viously transmitted to the incompetent Loudoun an elaborate 
statement of the posture of affairs in Virginia, exhibiting the in- 
sufficiency of the militia and the necessity of an offensive system 
of operations. But Loudoun determined to direct his main efforts 
against Canada, and to leave only twelve hundred men in the 
middle and southern provinces. Instead of receiving aid, Vir- 
ginia was required to send four hundred men to South Carolina. 
The Virginia Regiment was now reduced to a thousand men. 
Colonel Washington, nevertheless, insisted that a favorable con- 
juncture was presented for capturing Fort Du Quesne, since the 
French, when attacked in Canada, would be unable to re-enforce 
that remote post. This wise advice, although approved by Din- 
widdie, was unheeded; and the campaign of the North proved 
inglorious, that of the South ineffectual. Toward the close of 
the year, Washington, owing to multiplied cares, vexation*, and 
consequent ill health, relinquished his post, and retired to Mount 
Vernon, where he remained for several months. 

In January, 1758, Robert Dinwiddie, after an arduous and 



* Bancroft, iv. 236. 

32 



498 IIIST0RY OF THE colony and • 

disturbed administration of five years, worn out with vexation 
and age, sailed from Virginia not much regretted, except by his 
particular friends. A scholar, a wit, and an amiable companion, 
in private life he deservedly won esteem. The charge alleged 
against him of avarice and extortion in the exaction of illegal 
fees, appears to have originated in political prejudice, and that 
of failing to account for sums of money transmitted by the British 
government, rests on the unsupported assertions of those who 
were inimical to him. His place was filled for a short time by 
John Blair, president of the council. 

The Rev. Samuel Davies, by invitation, preached to the militia 
of Hanover County, in Virginia, at a general muster, on the 8th 
of May, 1758, with a view to the raising a company for Captain 
Samuel Meredith. In this discourse Davies said : " Need I inform 
you what barbarities and depredations a mongrel race of Indian 
savages and French Papists have perpetrated upon our frontiers? 
How many deserted or demolished houses and plantations ? How 
wide an extent of country abandoned? How many poor families 
obliged to fly in consternation and leave their all behind them? 
What breaches and separations between the nearest relations? 
What painful ruptures of heart from heart ? What shocking 
dispersions of those once united by the strongest and most en- 
dearing ties? Some lie dead, mangled with savage wounds, con- 
sumed to ashes with outrageous flames, or torn and devoured by 
the beasts of the wilderness, while their bones lie whitening in 
the sun, and serve as tragical memorials of the fatal spot where 
they fell. Others have been dragged away captives, and made 
the slaves of imperious and cruel savages : others have made their 
escape, and live to lament their butchered or captivated friends 
and relations. In short, our frontiers have been drenched with 
the blood of our fellow-subjects through the length of a thousand 
miles, and new wounds are still opening. We, in these inland 
parts of the country are as yet unmolested, through the unmerited 
mercy of Heaven. But let us only glance a thought to the 
western extremities of our body politic, and what melancholy 
scenes open to our view ! Now perhaps while I am speaking, 
now while you are secure and unmolested, our fellow-subjects 
there may be feeling the calamities I am now describing. Now, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 499 

perhaps, the savage shouts and whoops of Indians, and the screams 
and groans of some butchered family, may be mingling their 
horrors and circulating their tremendous echoes through the 
wilderness of rocks and mountains."* There appears to be some 
resemblance between this closing sentence and the following, in 
Fisher Ames' speech on the western posts: "I can fancy that I 
listen to the yells of savage vengeance and the shrieks of torture. 
Already they seem to sigh in the western wind; already they 
mingle with every echo from the mountains."! 

* Davies' Sermons, iii. 68. 

| These eloquent words may have been suggested by those of Davies. 



CHAPTER LXIV. 

Earl of Loudoun — General Forbes — Pamunkey Indians — Fauquier, Governor — 
Forbes' Expedition against Fort Du Quesne — Its Capture — Burnaby's Account 
of Virginia — Washington, member of Assembly — His Marriage — Speaker Ro- 
binson's Compliment — Stobo — Germans on the Shenandoah — Miscellaneous. 

The Earl of Loudoun had been commissioned to fill Dinwid- 
die's place, but his military avocations prevented him from enter- 
ing on the duties of the gubernatorial office, and it is believed 
that he never visited the colony of Virginia. Pitt, now minister, 
had resolved on a vigorous prosecution of the war in America, 
and it was quickly felt in every part of the British empire that 
there was a man at the helm. The department of the Middle 
and Southern Colonies was entrusted to General Forbes, and he 
was ordered to undertake an expedition against Fort Du Quesne. 
Washington rejoined the army. Forbes having deferred the 
campaign too late, the French and Indians renewed their merci- 
less warfare. In the County of Augusta sixty persons were 
murdered. The Virginia troops were augmented to two thousand 
men, divided into two regiments: one under Washington, who 
was still commander-in-chief; the other, the new regiment, under 
Colonel William Byrd, of Westover. The strength of Colonel 
Byrd's regiment at Fort Cumberland (August 3d, 1758,) was 
eight hundred and fifty- nine.* 

As late as 1758 there Were some descendants of the Pamunkey 
Indians still residing on their original seat. The Rev. Andrew 
Burnaby makes mention of them in his Travels. A few words 
of their language were found surviving as late as 1844. 

Francis Fauquier, appointed governor, now reached Virginia. 

* The officers were Lieutenant-Colonel George Mercer, Major William Peachy, 
Captains S. Munford, Thomas Cocke, Hancock Eustace, John Field, John Posey, 
Thomas Fleming, John Roote, and Samuel Meredith. 

f500) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 501 

Late in June, 1758, the Virginia troops left Winchester, and 
early in July halted at Fort Cumberland.* At Washington's 
suggestion the light Indian dress, hunting-shirt and blanket, were 
adopted by the army. Contrary to his advice, Forbes, instead 
of marching immediately upon the Ohio, by Braddock's road, 
undertook to construct another from Raystown, in Pennsylvania. 
The general, it was supposed, was influenced by the Pennsylva- 
nians to open for them a more direct avenue of intercourse with 
the west. The new road caused great delay. In disregard of 
Washington's advice, Major Grant had been detached from the 
Loyal Hanna, with eight hundred men, to reconnoitre the coun- 
try about Fort Du Quesne. Presumptuous temerity involved the 
detachment in a surprise and defeat similar to Braddock's; 
Grant and Major Andrew Lewis were made prisoners. Of the 
eight Virginia officers present five were slain, a sixth wounded, 
and a seventh captured. Captain Thomas Bullit, and fifty Vir- 
ginians, defended the baggage with great resolution, and contri- 
buted to save the remnant of the detachment. He was the only 
officer who escaped unhurt. Of one hundred and sixty-two Vir- 
ginians, sixty-two were killed, and two wounded. Grant's total 
loss was two hundred and seventy-three killed, and forty-two 
wounded. 

When the main army was set in motion Washington requested 
to be put in advance, and Forbes, profiting by Braddock's fatal 
error, complied with his wish. Washington was called to head- 
quarters, attended the councils of war, and, in compliance with 
the general's desire, drew up a line of march and order of battle. 
Forbes' army consisted of twelve hundred Highlanders, three 
hundred and fifty Royal Americans, twenty-seven hundred pro- 
vincials from Pennsylvania, sixteen hundred from Virginia, two 
or three hundred from Maryland, and two companies from North 
Carolina, making in all, including the wagoners, between six and 
seven thousand men. This army was five months in reaching the 
Ohio. The main body left Raystown on the 8th of October, 



* See in Bland Papers, i. 9, Robert Munford's letter, dated at the Camp near 
Fort Cumberland. He was father of the translator of Homer, and grandfather 
to George W. Munford, Esq., Secretary of the Commonwealth. 



502 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

1758, and reached the camp at Loyal Hanna early in November. 
The troops were worn out with fatigue and exposure ; winter had 
set in, and more than fifty miles of rugged country yet inter- 
vened between them and Fort Du Quesne. A council of war 
declared it unadvisable to proceed further in that campaign. Just 
at this conjuncture, three prisoners were brought in, and they 
gave such a report of the feeble state of the garrison at the fort, 
that it was determined to push forward at once. Washington, 
with his provincials, opened the way. The French, reduced to 
five hundred men, and deserted by the Indians, set fire to the 
fort, and retired down the Ohio. Forbes took possession of the 
post on the next day, (November 25th, 1758.) The works were 
repaired, and the fort was now named Fort Pitt. An important 
city, called after the same illustrious statesman, has been 
reared near the spot. General Forbes, whose health had been 
declining during the campaign, died shortly afterwards at Phila- 
delphia. He was a native of Scotland, and was educated as a 
physician; was an estimable and brave man, and of fine military 
talents. 

Burnaby, who visited Virginia about this time, in describing 
"Williamsburg, mentions the governor's palace as the only tolera- 
bly good public building. The streets being unpaved are dusty, 
the soil being sandy. The miniature capital had the rare advan- 
tage of being free from mosquitoes; and it was, all things consi- 
dered, a pleasant place of residence. During the session of the 
assembly and of the general court, it was crowded with the 
gentry of the country. On these occasions there were balls, and 
other amusements ; but as soon as the public business was dis- 
patched the visitors returned to their homes, and Williamsburg 
appeared to be deserted. Lightning-rods were now generally 
used in Virginia, and proved efficacious. At Spotswood's iron 
mines, on the banks of the Rappahannock, there were smelted, 
annually, upwards of six hundred tons of metal. Coal mines 
had been opened with good success on the James River near the 
falls. Not a tenth of the land in Virginia was cultivated; yet, 
besides tobacco, she produced considerable quantities of fruit, 
cattle, and grain. The bacon was held to be superior in flavor 
to any in the world; but the mutton and beef inferior to that of 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 503 

Great Britain. The horses were fleet and beautiful; and the 
breed was improved by frequent importations from England. 
Delicious fruits abounded, and in the early spring the eye of the 
traveller was charmed with the appearance of the orchards in full 
blossom. There were fifty-two counties and seventy-seven 
parishes, and on the pages of the statute-book forty-four towns; 
but one-half of these had not more than five houses, and the 
other half, for the most part, were inconsiderable villages. The 
exports of tobacco were between fifty and sixty thousand hogs- 
heads, each weighing eight hundred or a thousand pounds. Their 
other exports were, to the Madeiras and the West Indies, cider, 
pork, lumber, and grain ; to Great Britain, bar-iron, indigo, and a 
little ginseng. The only domestic manufacture of any conse- 
quence was Virginia cloth, which was commonly worn. There were 
between sixty and seventy clergymen, "men in general of sober 
and exemplary lives." Burnaby describes the Virginians as in- 
dolent, easy, good-natured, fond of society, and much given to 
convivial pleasures. They were devoid of enterprise and incapa- 
ble of enduring fatigue. Their authority over their slaves ren- 
dered them vain, imperious, and destitute of refinement. Ne- 
groes and Indians they looked upon as scarcely of the human 
species; so that in case of violence, or even murder committed 
upon them, it was almost impossible to bring them to justice. 
Such was Burnaby's report on this subject. During the reign of 
James the Second, John Page, in a religious work composed by 
him, thought it necessary to combat, in an elaborate argument, the 
opinion that a master had the power of life and death over his 
slave. 

Washington, after furnishing a detachment from his regiment 
as a garrison for Fort Pitt, then considered as within the juris- 
diction of Virginia, marched back to Winchester. Thence he 
proceeded to Williamsburg to take his seat in the assembly, 
having been elected by the County of Frederick. He resigned 
his military commission in December, after having been engaged 
in the service for more than five years. His health had been 
impaired, and domestic affairs demanded his attention. On the 
6th day of January, 1759, he was married to Martha, widow of 



504 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Jolm Parke Custis, and daughter of John Dandridge, a lady in 
whom were united wealth, beauty, and an amiable temper. 

By an order of the assembly, Speaker Robinson was directed 
to return their thanks to Colonel Washington, on behalf of the 
colony, for the distinguished military services which he had ren- 
dered to the country. As soon as he took his seat in the house, 
the speaker performed this duty in such glowing terms as quite 
overwhelmed him. Washington rose to express his acknowledg- 
ments for the honor, but was so disconcerted as to be unable to 
articulate a word distinctly. He blushed and faltered for a 
moment, when the speaker relieved him from his embarrassment 
by saying, "Sit down, Mr. Washington, your modesty equals 
your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language that I 
possess." 

Captain Stobo, a hostage in the hands of the French, was de- 
tained for years at Quebec, enduring frequently the hardships of 
actual imprisonment, and for a time being under condemnation 
of death. At length he was released from this apprehension and 
from close confinement, and in May, 1759, in company of several 
others, effected his escape. Eluding the enemy by prudence and 
gallantry, he and his associates made their way to Louisburg. 
Here Stobo was gladly welcomed, and he joined General Wolfe, 
to whom his information proved serviceable ; and he appears to 
have been present at the capture of Quebec. Shortly afterwards 
he returned to Virginia, (November, 1759.) The assembly 
granted him a thousand pounds, requested the governor to pro- 
mote him, and presented their thanks to him for his fidelity, for- 
titude, and courage, by Mr. R. C. Nicholas, Mr. Richard Bland, 
and Mr. George Washington. Stobo returned to England, where 
his memoirs were published. In 1760 he was made a captain in 
Amherst's Regiment, then serving in America; and he held that 
position in 1765. 

Van Braam, who had been kept prisoner at Montreal, was not 
released until the surrender of that city to the British in the 
ensuing year. He returned to Williamsburg shortly afterwards. 
In 1770 he obtained his share of the Virginia bounty lands; and 
in 1777 was made major in the Royal Americans, then in the 
West Indies. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 505 

During this year (1759) Rev. Andrew Burnaby visited Mount 
Vernon, of which he remarks : " This place is the property of Co- 
lonel Washington, and truly deserving of its owner. The house is 
most beautifully situated upon a very high hill on the hanks of 
the Potomac, and commands a noble prospect of water, of cliffs, 
of woods, and plantations. The river is near two miles broad 
though two hundred from the mouth; and divides the dominions 
of Virginia from Maryland." 

Burnaby, in his Travels, describes the condition of the Ger- 
mans on the Shenandoah as follows: "I could not but reflect 
with pleasure on the situation of these people, and think, if there 
is such a thing as happiness in this life, that they enjoy it. Far 
from the bustle of the world, they live in the most delightful cli- 
mate and richest soil imaginable ; they are everywhere surrounded 
with beautiful prospects and sylvan scenes, lofty mountains, 
transparent streams, falls of water, rich valleys, and majestic 
woods; the whole, interspersed with an infinite variety of flower- 
ing shrubs, constitute the landscape surrounding them ; they are 
subject to few diseases ; are generally robust, and live in perfect 
liberty; they are ignorant of want, and acquainted with but few 
vices; their inexperience of the elegancies of life precludes any 
regret that they possess not the means of enjoying them; but 
they possess what many princes would give their dominions for — 
health, content, and tranquillity of mind." 

In the year 1781 died the Rev. Thomas Dawson, President of 
the College of William and Mary ; he was succeeded by the Rev. 
William Yates. During the same year died the Rev. Samuel 
Davies.* He accepted the presidency of the College of New 
Jersey in 1759, and died on the 4th of February, 1761. In this 
year was incorporated the town of Staunton, in Augusta County, 
and in the following year Romney, in the County of Hampshire. 

During the tragic scenes of the French and Indian war, the 



* John Rodgers Davies, his third son, was at Princeton College at the same 
time with Mr. Madison, and leaving it, at the commencement of the revolu- 
tionary war, became an officer in the army, and as such enjoyed the esteem of 
Washington. He is said to have been engaged in the auditor's office at Rich- 
mond. He removed to Sussex County, and died there. 



5-06 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

persecutions of the dissenting Presbyterians, whose aid was so 
necessary in defending the frontiers, were essentially lessened. 
They were indebted to the confusion and dangers of the times for 
a freedom in matters of religion which was denied them in a 
period of tranquillity. Their ministers now enjoyed the privilege 
of preaching where they pleased, and were no longer restrained 
by the Virginia intolerant construction of the toleration act. 
The Baptists began to multiply their number in Virginia, and their 
new enthusiasm became the object of persecution. But events 
were about to turn the tide of popular prejudice, and direct it 
against the clergy of the established church, and to give to the dis- 
senters a stronger foothold and a higher vantage ground. Those 
ministers of the establishment who had been vainly endeavoring 
to repress the progress of dissent by ridicule, detraction, and in- 
sult, some of them combining with and leading on a mob of 
"lewd fellows of the baser sort" in these persecuting indignities, 
now began to find it necessary to defend themselves against the 
rising storm of public indignation. 



CHAPTER LXV. 



The Parsons' Cause — Patrick Henry's Speech. 

In the year 1763 occurred the famous "Parsons' Cause," in 
Avhich the genius of Patrick Henry first shone forth. The emolu- 
ments of the clergy of the established church for a long time 
had consisted of sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco, contributed 
by each parish. The tobacco crop of 1755 failing, in conse- 
quence of a drought, and the exigencies of the colony being 
greatly augmented by the French and Indian war, the assembly 
passed an act, to endure for ten months, authorizing all debts 
due in tobacco to be paid either in kind or in money, at the rate 
ot sixteen shillings and eight pence for every hundred pounds of 
tobacco. This was equivalent to two pence per pound, and hence 
the act was styled by the clergy the "Two Penny Act." As 
the price of tobacco now rose to six pence per pound, the reduc- 
tion amounted to sixty-six and two-thirds per cent. At two 
pence the salary of a minister clergy was about one hundred and 
thirty-three pounds; at six pence, about four hundred pounds. 
Yet the act must have operated in relief of the indebted clergy 
equally with other debtors, and many of the ministers were in 
debt. It was by no means the intention of the assembly to 
abridge the maintenance of the clergy, or to bear harder upon 
them than upon all other public creditors; and as they, under 
the new act, in fact, received in general a larger salary than they 
had received in any year since it was first regulated by law, they, 
above all men, ought to have been content with it in a year of so 
much distress.* The taxes were enormous, and fell most heavily 
upon planters of limited means; and the tobacco-crop was greatly 
fallen off. The Rev. James Maury, in whose behalf the suit was 



* Colonel Richard Bland's Letter to the Clergy. 

(507) 



508 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

afterwards brought, had himself at the time expressly approved 
of the Two Penny Act, and said: "In my own case, who am en- 
titled to upwards of seventeen thousand weight of tobacco per 
annum, the difference amounts to a considerable sum. However, 
each individual must expect to share in the misfortunes of the 
community to which he belongs."* The law was universal in its 
operation, embracing private debts, public, county, and parish 
levies, and the fees of all civil officers. Its effect upon the clergy 
was to reduce their salary to a moderate amount in money, far 
less, indeed, than the sixteen thousand pounds which they were 
ordinarily entitled to, yet still -rather more than what they had 
usually received. The act did not contain the usual clause, by 
which acts altering previous acts approved by the crown were 
suspended until they should receive the royal sanction, since it 
might require the entire ten months, the term of its operation, 
to learn the determination of the crown. The king had a few 
years before expressly refused to allow the assembly to dispense 
with the suspending clause in any such act. The regal authority 
was thus apparently abnegated; necessity discarding forms, and 
the safety of the people being the supreme law. Up to the time 
of the Revolution the king freely exercised his authority in 
vetoing acts of the assembly when they had been approved by 
large majorities of the house of burgesses and of the council. 
The practice was to print all the acts at the close of each session, 
and when an act was negatived by the king, that fact was writ- 
ten against the act with a pen.f 

No open resistance was offered to the Tavo Penny Act; but the 
greater number of clergy petitioned the house of burgesses to 
grant them a more liberal provision for their maintenance. Their 
petition set forth: "That the salary appointed bylaw for the 
clergy is so scanty that it is with difficulty they support them- 
selves and families, and can by no means make any provision for 
their widows and children, who are generally left to the charity 
of their friends; that the small encouragement given to clergy- 



* Memoirs of Huguenot Family, 402. 

f Journals of the house of burgesses thus marked are in the possession of Mr. 
Grigsby. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 509 

men is a reason why so few come into this colony from the two 
universities; and that so many, who are a disgrace to the minis- 
try, find opportunities to fill the parishes; that the raising the 
salary would prove of great service to the colony, as a decent 
subsistence would be a great encouragement to the youth to take 
orders, for want of which few gentlemen have hitherto thought 
it worth their while to bring up their children in the study of 
divinity ; that they generally spent many years of their lives at 
great expense in study, when their patrimony is pretty well 
exhausted; and when in holy orders they cannot follow any se- 
cular employment for the advancement of their fortunes, and may 
on that account expect a more liberal provision."* Another re- 
lief act, similar to that of 1755, fixing the value of tobacco at 
eighteen shillings a hundred, was passed in 1758f upon a mere 
anticipation of another scanty crop. J Burk§ attributes the rise 
in the price of tobacco to the arts of an extravagant specula- 
tor; but he cites no authority for the statement, and the acts 
themselves expressly attribute the scarcity, in 1755, to " drought," 
and in 1757 to "unseasonableness of the weather." || The crop 
did fall short, and the price rose extremely high; and conten- 
tion ensued between the planters and the clergy. The Rev. John 
Camm, rector of York Hampton Parish, assailed the "Two 
Penny Act" in a pamphlet of that title, which was replied to 
severally by Colonel Richard Bland and Colonel Landon Carter. 
An acrimonious controversy took place in the Virginia Gazette; 
but the cause of the clergy became at length so unpopular, that 
a printer could not be found in Virginia willing to publish 
Camm's rejoinder to Bland and Carter, styled the " Colonels 
Dismounted," and he was obliged to resort to Maryland for that 
purpose. The colonels retorted, and this angry dispute threw 
the colony into great excitement. At last the clergy appealed 
to the king in council. By an act of assembly passed as early 
as the year 1662, a salary of eighty pounds per annum was set- 



* Colonel Bland's Letter to the Clergy, 6. f Hening, vii. 240. 

% Ibid., vi. 568. \ Hist, of Va., iii. 302. 

|| See also A. II. Everett's Life of Patrick Henry, in Sparks' American Biog., 
(second series,) i. 230. 



£.10 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

tied upon every minister, "to be paid in the valuable commodi- 
ties of the country — if in tobacco, at twelve shillings the hundred ; 
if in corn, at ten shillings the barrel." In 1696 the salary of 
the clergy was fixed at sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco, 
worth at that time about eighty pounds. This continued to be 
the amount of their stipends until 1731, when, the value of to- 
bacco being raised, they increased to about one hundred or one 
hundred and twenty pounds, exclusive of their glebes and other 
perquisites. In Virginia, besides the salaries of the clergy, the 
people had to bear parochial, county, and public levies, and fees 
of clerks, sheriffs, surveyors, and other officers, all of which were 
payable in tobacco, the paper currency of the colony having 
banished gold and silver from the colony.* The consequence of 
this state of things was that a failure in the crop involved the 
people in general distress; for by law if the salaries of the clergy 
and the fees of officers were not paid in tobacco by the tenth day 
of April, the property of delinquents was liable to be distrained, 
and if not replevied within five days, to be sold at auction. Were 
they to be exposed to cruel imposition and exactions; to have 
their estates seized and sacrificed, "for not complying with laws 
which Providence had made it impossible to comply with ? Com- 
mon sense, as well as common humanity, will tell you that they 
are not, and that it is impossible any instruction to a governor 
can be construed so contrary to the first principles of justice and 
equity, as to prevent his assent to a law for relieving a colony in 
a case of such general distress and calamity."'!' Sherlock, 
Bishop of London, in his letter to the lords of trade and planta- 
tions, denounced the act of 1758, as binding the king's hands, 
and manifestly tending to draw the people of the plantations 
from their allegiance to the king. It was replied, on the other 
hand, that if the Virginians could ever entertain the thought of 
withdrawing from their dependency on England, nothing could be 
more apt to bring about such a result than the denying them the 
right to protect themselves from distress and calamity in so try- 
ing an emergency. In the year when this relief act was passed, 
many thousands of the colonists did not make one pound of to- 

* Burnaby's Travels. f Bland's Letter to the Clergy, 14. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. ■ 511 

bacco, and if all of it raised in the colony had been divided 
among the tithables, "they would not have had two hundred 
pounds a man to pay the taxes, for the support of the war, their 
levies and other public dues, and to provide a scanty subsistence 
for themselves and families;" and "the general assembly were 
obliged to issue money from the public funds to keep the people 
from starving." The act had been denounced as treasonable; 
but were the legislature to sit with folded arms, silent and inac- 
tive, amid the miseries of the people? "This would have been 
treason indeed, — treason against the state, — against the clemency 
of the royal majesty." Many landlords and civil officers were 
members of the assembly in 1758, and their fees and rents were 
payable in tobacco; nevertheless, they cheerfully promoted the 
enactment of a measure by which they were to suffer great losses. 
The royal prerogative in the hands of a benign sovereign could 
only be exerted for "the good of the people, and not for their 
destruction." "When, therefore, the governor and council (to 
whom this power is in part delegated) find, from the uncertainty 
and variableness of human affairs, that any accident happens 
which general instructions can by no means provide for, or 
which, by a rigid construction of them, would destroy a people 
so far distant from the royal presence, before they can apply to 
the throne for relief, it is their duty as good magistrates to exer- 
cise this power as the exigency of the state requires ; and though 
they should deviate from the strict letter of an instruction, or, 
perhaps in a small degree from the fixed rule of the constitution, 
yet such a deviation cannot possibly be treason, when it is in- 
tended to produce the most salutary end — the preservation of the 
people." 

The Rev. Andrew Burnaby, who passed some months in Vir- 
ginia about the time of this dispute, travelling through the colony 
and conversing freely with all ranks of people, expresses him- 
self on the subject in the following manner: "Upon the whole, 
however, as on the one hand I disapprove of the proceedings of 
the assembly in this affair, so on the other I cannot approve of 
the steps which were taken by the clergy; that violence of tem- 
per, that disrespectful behavior toward the governor, that un- 
worthy treatment of their commissary, and, to mention nothing 



512 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

else, that confusion of proceeding in the convention,* of which 
some, though not the majority, as has been invidiously repre- 
sented, were guilty; these things were surely unbecoming the 
sacred character they are invested with, and the moderation of 
those persons who ought in all things to imitate the conduct of 
their Divine Master. If instead of flying out in invectives against 
the legislature, of accusing the governor of having given up the 
cause of religion by passing the bill, when, in fact, had he re- 
jected it, he would never have been able to have got any supplies 
during the course of the war, though ever so much wanted; if 
instead of charging the commissary! with want of zeal, for having 
exhorted them to moderate measures, they had followed the pru- 
dent counsels of that excellent man, and had acted with more 
temper and moderation, they might, I am persuaded, in a very 
short time have obtained any redress they could reasonably have 
desired. The people in general were extremely well affected 
toward the clergy. "| 

The following paper exhibits the view maintained by Richard 
Henry Lee on this mooted topic: — 

" Reasons and Objections to Mr. Oamms Appeal. 

"Objected, on the part of Mr. Camm: That the law of 1758, 
as it tended to suspend the act of 1748, which had obtained the 
royal approbation, and as it was contrary to his majesty's instruc- 
tions to his governor, was void ab initio, and was so declared by 
his majesty's order of disapprobation of 10th of August, 1759. 

"Answer. — Whatever might be allowed to be the effect of 
these objections, and however they might affect those who made 
the law, it would be very hard that they should subject to a heavy 
penalty two innocent subjects, § who have been guilty of no offence 
but that of obeying a law passed regularly in appearance through 
the several branches of the legislature of the colony while it had 

* The record of this convention of the clergy, which is probably in the archives 
of the See of London, would be extremely interesting at the present day. 

f Robinson. 

J Travels through the Middle Settlements in North America in the year 1759 
and 1760, with Observations upon the state of the Colonies, by the Rev Andrew 
Burnaby, A.M., Vicar of Greenwich. Second edition. London, 1775. 

$ The collectors. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 513 

the force of a law upon the spot. It would be to punish them 
for a mistake of the assembly. But the objections do not prove 
either that the law was a nullity from the beginning by its 
tending to suspend the act of 1748, or by being assented to by 
the governor, contrary to his majesty's instructions to him, or 
that it became void by relation, ab initio, from any retrospective 
declarations of his majesty. As to the law in question tending 
to suspend the act of 1748, which had received the royal appro- 
bation, a power given by the crown to make laws implies a 
power to suspend or even repeal former laws which are become 
inconvenient or mischievous, as the law of 1748 was; otherwise a 
country at the distance of three thousand miles might be subject 
to great calamities, before relief could be obtained, for which 
reason such power is lodged in the legislature of the country. 

"As to the governor's consent being contrary to his majesty's 
instructions to him, it is imagined that his majesty's instructions 
to the governor are private directions for his conduct in his 
government, liable to be sometimes dispensed with upon extraor- 
dinary emergencies, the propriety of which he may be called to 
explain. The instructions are not addressed to the people nor 
promulgated among them; they are not public instruments, nor 
lodged among the public records of the province. The people 
know the governor's authority by his commission; his assent is 
virtually that of the crown, and by his assent the law is in force 
till his majesty's disapprobation arrives and is ratified, conse- 
quently everything done in the colony till then conformably 
thereto is legal. 

"As to the order in council having declared the act void ab 
initio, it seems to have been a mistake, the order being as usual 
generally expressed that the act be disallowed, declared void, and 
of none effect, which purposely left the effect of the law, during 
the interval, open to its legal consequences. 

"The king's commission to his governor directs him that he 
shall transmit all laws in three months after their passage. That 
when the laws are so signified, then such and so many of the said 
laws as shall be disallowed and signified to the governor should 
from thenceforth cease, etc. Upon appeal from the Cockpit to 
the privy council, the cause was put off sine die." 

33 



514 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

When the clergy appealed to the king, they sent over the Rev. 
John Camin to plead their cause in England, and agents were 
employed by the assembly to resist it. Mr. Camm remained 
eighteen months in England in prosecution of the appeal. The 
king at length, by the unanimous advice of the lords of trade, 
denounced the Two Penny Act as an usurpation, and declared it 
null and void : and the governor, by express instructions, issued 
a proclamation to that effect. Fauquier was reprimanded for not 
having negatived the bill, and was threatened with recall; and 
he pleaded in excuse that he had subscribed the law in conformity 
with the advice of the council, and contrary to his own judgment. 
The board, of trade deemed the apology unsatisfactory.* 

But the king's decision not being retrospective, the repeal of 
the act not rendering it void from the beginning, was in effect 
futile, the act having been passed to be in force for only one 
year. 

At Mr. Camm's instance a suit was brought against the vestry 
of his parish of York Hampton, for the recovery of the salary in 
tobacco, the assembly having, in the mean while, determined to 
support the vestries in .their defence. The case was decided 
against the plaintiff, Mr. Camm, who, in accordance with the ad- 
vice of the board of trade, thereupon appealed to the king in 
council. The appeal was dismissed upon some informality. 
Camm experienced the perfidy of courtiers, and it being the 
policy of the government to avoid a collision with the assembly, 
the clergy were left in the lurch, to take their chances in the 
Virginia courts of law. The Rev. Mr. Warrington, grandfather 
of Commodore Lewis Warrington, endeavored to bring a suit 
for his salary, payable in tobacco, in the general court, but it 
was not permitted to be tried, the court awaiting the determina- 
tion of Camm's case in England, which was in effect an indefi- 
nite postponement. Mr. Warrington then brought suit in the 
county court of Elizabeth City, and the jury brought in a special 
verdict, allowing him some damages, but declaring the law valid, 
notwithstanding the king's decision to the contrary. The Rev. 
Alexander White, of King William County, brought a similar 

* Old Churches of Va., i. 217. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 515 

suit, and the court referring both the law and the fact to the jury, 
they gave the plaintiff trivial damages. The County of Hanover 
was selected as the scene of the most important trial of this ques- 
tion, and as all the causes stood on the same foot, the decision 
of this would determine all. This was the suit brought by the 
Rev. James Maury, of an adjoining parish. The county court 
of Hanover (November, 1763,) decided the point of law in favor 
of the minister, thus declaring the "Two Penny Act" to be no 
law, as having been annulled by the crown, and it was ordered 
that at the next court a jury, on a writ of inquiry, should deter- 
mine whether the plaintiff was entitled to damages, and if so, how 
much? Maury's success before the jury seemed now inevitable, 
since there could be no dispute relative to the facts of the case. 
Mr. John Lewis, who had defended the popular side, retired from 
the cause as virtually decided, and as being now only a question 
of damages. The defendants, the collectors of that court, as a 
dernier resort, employed Patrick Henry, Jr., to appear in their 
behalf at the next hearing. The suit came to trial again on the 
first of December, a select jury being ordered to be summoned. 
On an occasion of such universal interest, an extraordinary con- 
course of people assembled at Hanover Court-house, not only 
from that county, but also from the counties adjoining. The 
court-house (which is still standing, but somewhat altered,) and 
yard were thronged, and twenty clergymen sat on the bench to 
witness a contest in which they had so much at stake. The Rev. 
Patrick Henry, uncle to the youthful attorney, retired from the 
court and returned home, at his request, he saying that he should 
have to utter some harsh things toward the clergy, which he 
would not like to do in his presence. The presiding magistrate 
was the father of young Henry. The sheriff, according to Mr. 
Maury's own account, finding some gentlemen unwilling to serve 
on the jury, summoned men of the common people. Mr. Maury 
objected to them, but Patrick Henry insisting that "they were 
honest men," they were immediately called to the book and 
sworn. Three or four of them, it was said, were dissenters " of 
that denomination called 'New Lights.'" On the plaintiff's side 
the only evidence was that of Messrs. Gist and McDowall, tobacco- 
buyers, who testified that fifty shillings per hundred weight was 



516 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

the current price of tobacco at that time. On the defendant's 
side was produced the Rev. James Maury's receipt for one hun- 
dred and forty-four pounds paid him by Thomas Johnson, Jr. 
The case was opened for the plaintiff by Peter Lyons. When 
Patrick Henry rose to reply, his commencement was awkward, 
unpromising, embarrassed. In a few moments he began to warm 
with his subject, and catching inspiration from the surrounding 
scene, his attitude grew more erect, his gesture bolder, his eye 
kindled and dilated with the radiance of genius, his voice ceased 
to falter, and the witchery of its tones made the blood run cold 
and the hair stand on end. The people, charmed by the en- 
chanter's magnetic influence, hung with rapture upon his accents ; 
in every part of the house, on every bench, in every window, 
they stooped forward from their stands in breathless silence, 
astonished, delighted, riveted upon the youthful orator, whose 
eloquence blended the beauty of the rainbow with the terror of 
the cataract. He contended that the act of 1758 had every 
characteristic of a good law, and could not be annulled consis- 
tently with the original compact between king and people, and 
he declared that a king who disallowed laws so salutary, from 
being the father of his people degenerated into a tyrant, and for- 
feited all right to obedience. Some part of the audience were 
struck with horror at this declaration, and the opposing advocate, 
Mr. Lyons, exclaimed, in impassioned tones, "The gentleman has 
spoken treason!" and from some gentlemen in the crowd arose a 
confused murmur of "Treason! Treason!" Yet Henry, without 
any interruption from the court, proceeded in his bold philippic; 
and one of the jury was so carried away by his feelings as every 
now and then to give the speaker a nod of approbation. He 
urged that the clergy of the established church by thus refusing 
acquiescence in the law of the land counteracted the great object 
of their institution, and, therefore, instead of being regarded as 
useful members of the State, ought to be considered as enemies 
of the community. In the close of his speech of an hour's length, 
he called upon the jury, unless they were disposed to rivet the 
chains of bondage on their own necks, to teach the defendant 
such a lesson, by their decision of this case, as would be a warn- 
ing to him and his brethren not to have the temerity in future 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 517 

to dispute the validity of laws authenticated by the only author- 
ity which, in his opinion, could give force to laws for the govern- 
ment of this colony.* Amid the storm of his invective the dis- 
comfited and indignant clergy, feeling that the day was lost, 
retired. Young Henry's father sat on the bench bedewed with 
tears of conflicting emotions and fond surprise. The jury, in less 
than five minutes, returned a verdict of one penny damages. Mr. 
Lyons insisted that as the verdict was contrary to the evidence, 
the jury ought to be sent out again, but the court admitted the 
verdict without hesitation. The plaintiff's counsel then in vain 
endeavored to have the evidence in behalf of the plaintiff re- 
corded. His motion for a new trial met with the same fate. He 
then moved, "that it might be admitted to record, that he had 
made a motion for a new trial because he considered the verdict 
contrary to evidence, and that the motion had been rejected," 
which, after much altercation, was agreed to. He lastly moved 
for an appeal, which too was granted. Acclamations resounded 
w T ithin the house and without, and in spite of cries of "Order! 
Order!" Patrick Henry was reluctantly lifted up and borne in 
triumph on the shoulders of his excited admirers. He was now 
the man of the people. In after-years, aged men who had been 
present at the trial of this cause reckoned it the highest enco- 
mium that they could bestow upon an orator to say of him: "He 
is almost equal to Patrick when he pleadf against the parsons. "J 
This speech of Henry's was looked upon by the clergy and their 
supporters as pleading for the assumption of a power to bind the 
king's hands, as asserting such a supremacy in provincial legisla- 

* Letter of Rev. James Maury, in Memoirs of Huguenot Family, 421, 422. 

f In Virginia to this day the preterite of "plead" is pronounced "pled." 
Wirt actually prints the word "pled," and has raised a smile at his expense. It 
is proper, however, to observe that "plead" and "read" followed the same 
analogies even in England in the seventeenth century. Many of the quaint 
words used by the common people, obsolete among the well educated, and usually 
set down as illiterate mistakes, arc really grounded in traditional authority. 
Thus the word "gardein," for guardian, is the old law term: and the verb 
"learn," still often used actively, was, according to Trench, originally employed 
indifferently in a transitive sense as well as intransitive. The common people 
are often right without being able to prove it. 

% Wirt's Life of Fatrick Henry; Hawks, 124; Old Churches, etc., i. 219. 



518 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

tures as was incompatible with the dignity of the Church of Eng- 
land, and as manifestly tending to draw the people of the colonies 
away from their allegiance to the king. Mr. Cootes, merchant 
on James River, on coming out of the court, said that he would 
have given a considerable sum out of his own pocket rather than 
his friend Patrick should have been guilty of treason, but little, 
if any, less criminal than that which had brought Simon Lord 
Lovat to the block. The clergy and their adherents deemed 
Henry's speech as exceeding the most inflammatory and sedi- 
tious harangues of the Roman tribunes of the common people. 
The Rev. Mr. Boucher, rector of Hanover Parish, in the County 
of King George, accounted one of the best preachers of his time, 
said: ''The assembly was found to have done and the clergy to 
have suffered wrong. The aggrieved may, and we hope often do, 
forgive, but it has been observed that aggressors rarely forgive. 
Ever since this controversy, your clergy have experienced every 
kind of discourtesy and discouragement."* 

It was evident that the municipal affairs of Virginia could not 
be rightly managed, or safely interfered with, by a slow-moving 
government three thousand miles distant. The act of 1758 
appears to have been grounded on humanity, the law of nature, 
and necessity. 

Henry's speech in "the Parsons' Cause," and the verdict of 
the jury, may be said in a certain sense to have been the com- 
mencement of the Revolution in Virginia; and Hanover, where 
dissent had appeared, was the starting-point. Wirt's description 
of the scene has rendered it classic, and notwithstanding the 
faults of a style sometimes too florid and extravagant, there is a 
charm in the biography of Henry which stamps it as one of those 
works of genius which "men will not willingly let die." 

* Anderson's Hist. Col. Church, iii. 158. 



CHAPTER LXVL 

PATRICK HENRY. 

Patrick Henry, the second of nine children, was born on the 
29th day of May, 1736, at Studley, in Hanover County. The 
dwelling-house is no longer standing; antique hedges of box and 
an avenue of aged trees recall recollections of the past. Studley 
farm, devoid of any picturesque scenery, is surrounded by woods; 
so that Henry was actually, — 

"The forest-born Demosthenes, 
Whose thunder shook the Philip of the seas."* 

His parents were in moderate but easy circumstances. The 
father, John Henry, was a native of Aberdeen, in Scotland; he 
was a cousin of David Henry, who was a brother-in-law of Ed- 
ward Cave, and co-editor with him of the Gentleman s 3Iagazine, 
and his successor. Some say that John Henry married Jane, 
sister of Dr. William Robertson, the historian, and that in this 
way Patrick Henry and Lord Brougham came to be related. 
John Henry, who emigrated to Virginia some time before 1730, 
enjoyed the friendship and patronage of Governor Dinwiddie, 
who introduced him to the acquaintance of/ Colonel John Syme, 
of Hanover,|n whose family he became domesticated, and with 
whose widow he intermarried. Her maiden name was Sarah 
Winston, of a good old family. Colonel Byrd describes her as 
"a portly, handsome dame," "of a lively, cheerful conversation, 
with much less reserve than most of her countrywomen. It be- 
comes her very well, and sets off her other agreeable qualities to 
advantage." "The courteous widow invited me to rest myself 
there that good day, and to go to church with her; but I excused 
myself by telling her she would certainly spoil my devotion. 



* Lord Byron so calls him, in the Age of Bronze. 

(519) 



520 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Then she civilly entreated me to make her house my home when- 
ever I visited my plantations, which made me bow low, and thank 
her very kindly." She possessed a mild and benevolent disposi- 
tion, undeviating probity, correct understanding, and easy elocu- 
tion. Colonel Syme had represented the County of Hanover in 
the house of burgesses. He left a son who, according to Colonel 
Byrd, inherited all the strong features of his sire, not softened in 
the least by those of his mother.* 

John Henry, father of Patrick Henry, Jr., was colonel of his 
regiment, county surveyor, and, for many years, presiding ma- 
gistrate of Hanover County. He was a loyal subject, and took 
pleasure in drinking the king's health at the head of his regi- 
ment. He enjoyed the advantage of a liberal education; his un- 
derstanding was plain but solid. He was a member of the 
established church, but was supposed to be more conversant with 



* Several persons of the name of Winston came over from Yorkshire, Eng- 
land, and settled in Hanover. Isaac Winston, one of these, or a son of one of 
them, had children: 1. William, father of Judge Edmund Winston. 2. Sarah, 
mother of Patrick Henry, Jr., the orator. 3. Geddes. 4. Mary, who married 

John Coles. 5. A daughter who married Cole. She. was grandmother to 

Dorothea or Dolly Payne, who married James Madison, President of the United 
States. Of these five children, William, the eldest, called Langaloo William, 
married Alice Taylor, of Caroline. He was a great hunter; had a quarter in 
Bedford or Albemarle, where he spent much time in hunting deer. He was fond 
of the Indians, dressed in their costume, and was a favorite 'with them. He was 
also distinguished as an Indian-fighter. He is said to have been endowed with 
that rare kind of magnetic eloquence which rendered his nephew, Patrick Henry, 
so famous. Indeed it was the opinion of some that he alone excelled him in 
eloquence. During the French and Indian war, shortly after Braddock's defeat, 
when the militia were marched to the frontier, this William Winston was a lieu- 
tenant of a company, which, being poorly clothed, without tents, and exposed to 
the rigors of an inclement season, became very much dissatisfied, and were 
clamorous to return to their homes. At this juncture, Lieutenant Winston, 
mounting a stump, made to them an appeal so patriotic and overpowering that 
when he concluded, the general cry was, "Let us march on; lead us against the 
enemy!" This maternal uncle of Patrick Henry, Jr., being so gifted with na- 
tive eloquence, it may be inferred that he derived his genius from his mother. 
William Winston's children were: 1. Elizabeth, who married Rev. Peter Fontaine. 
2. Fanny, who married Dr. Walker. 3. Edmund, the judge, who married, first, 
Sarah, daughter of Isaac Winston; second, the widow of Patrick Henry, the 
orator, (Dolly Dandridge that was.) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 521 

Livy and Horace than with the Bible. He appears to have made 
a map of Virginia which ^was published in London in 1770.* 

When James Waddel first came to Virginia he visited the Rev. 
Samuel Davies in Hanover, near where Colonel John Henry 
lived, and being introduced to him, on a Sunday, he accepted an 
invitation to accompany him home. At parting, Mr. Davies re- 
marked to young Waddel, that he would not find the Sabbath 
observed in Virginia as in Pennsylvania; and he would have to 
bear with many things which he would wish to be otherwise. 
Soon after the settlement of Colonel John Henry in Virginia, 
Patrick, his brother, followed him, and after some interval be- 
came, by his brother's interest, (April, 1733,) rector of St. 
George's Parish, in the new County of Spotsylvania, where he 
remained only one year. He afterwards became rector of St. 
Paul's Church in Hanover. John Henry, in a few years after 
the birth of his son Patrick, removed from Studley to Mount 
Brilliant, now the Retreat, in the same county; and it was here 
that the future orator was principally educated. The father, a 
good classical scholar, had opened a grammar-school in his own 
house, and Patrick, after learning the first rudiments at an "old 
field school" in the neighborhood, at ten years of age com- 
menced his studies under his father, with whom he acquired an 
English education, and at the age of fifteen had advanced in 
Latin so far as to read Virgil and Livy; had learned to read the 
Greek characters, and attained some proficiency in the mathema- 
tics. At this age his scholastic education appears to have ended, 
and, as he mentioned to John Adams in 1774, he never read a 
Latin book after that. His attainments, however, evince that he 
could not have been so deficient in application to study as has 
been commonly supposed. With a taste so prevalent, and for 
which his kinsmen, the Winstons, were peculiarly distinguished, he 
was fond of hunting and angling. He would, it is said, recline 
under the shade of a tree overhanging the sequestered stream, 
watching in indolent repose the motionless cork of his fishing- 



* A copy of this rare map is in possession of Joseph Horner, Esq., of War- 
renton, Virginia. Appended to it is an epitome of the state and condition of 
Virginia. The marginal illustration is profuse, and, like the map, well executed. 



522 HISTOKY OF THE COLONY AND 

line. He loved solitude, and in hunting chose not to accompany 
the noisy set that drove the deer, but preferred to occupy the 
silent "stand," where for hours he might muse alone and indulge 
"the pleasing solitariness of thought." The glowing fancy of 
Wirt has, perhaps, thrown over these particulars some prismatic 
coloring. Young Henry, probably, after all, fished and hunted 
pretty much like other lads in his neighborhood. It would, per- 
haps, not be easy to prove that he was fonder of fishing and 
hunting than George Mason, George Washington, and many 
other of his cotemporaries. From his eleventh to his twenty- 
second year he lived in the neighborhood where Davies preached, 
and occasionally accompanied his mother to hear him. His elo- 
quence made a deep impression on young Henry, and he ahvay3 
spoke of Davies and Waddel as the greatest orators that he had 
ever heard. Whether he ever heard Whitefield does not appear. 

Isaac Winston was one of the persons informed against in 
1748 for allowing the Rev. John Roan to preach in his house. 
Two of the sisters of Patrick Henry — Lucy, who married Valen- 
tine Wood, and Jane, who married Colonel Samuel Meredith — 
were members of Davies' congregations. 

At the age of fifteen Patrick Henry was placed, about the year 
1751, in a store, to learn the mercantile business, and after a 
year so passed the father set up William, an elder brother, and 
Patrick together in trade. There is reason to believe that his 
alleged aversion to books and his indolence, have been exaggerated 
by Wirt's artistic romancing. There is no royal road to learn- 
ing; men do not acquire knowledge by intuition. Aversion to 
study is by no means unusual among the young ; nor is it proba- 
ble that Patrick Henry was much more averse to it than the 
generality of youth; indeed, his domestic educational advantages 
were uncommonly good, and the early development of his mind 
proves that he did not neglect them. The mercantile adventure, 
after the experiment of a year, proving a failure, William, who, 
it would appear, had less energy than Patrick, retired from the 
concern, and the management was devolved upon the younger 
brother. Patrick, disgusted with an unpromising business, lis- 
tened impatiently to the hunter's horn, and the cry of hounds 
echoing in the neighboring woods. Debarred from these conge- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 523 

nial sports, he sought a resource in music, and learned to play not 
unskilfully on the flute and the violin, the latter being the favorite 
instrument in Virginia. He found another source of entertainment 
in the conversation of the country people who met at his store, 
particularly on Saturday; and was fond of starting debates 
among them, and observed the workings of their minds ; and by 
stories, real or fictitious, studied how to move the passions at his 
will. Many country storekeepers have done the same thing, but 
they were not Patrick Henrys. That he employed part of his 
leisure in storing his mind with information from books, cannot 
be doubted. Behind the counter he could con the news furnished 
by the Virginia Gazette, and he probably dipped sometimes into 
the Gentleman' 8 Magazine. At the end of two or three years, 
a too generous indulgence to his customers, and negligence in 
business, together perhaps with the insuperable difficulties of the 
enterprise itself, in a period of war, disaster, and public distress, 
forced him to abandon his store almost in a state of insolvency. 
William Henry, the older brother, was then wild and dissipated; 
but became in after-life a member of the assembly from the 
County of Fluvanna, enjoyed the title of colonel, and had a 
competent estate. In the mean time Patrick had married the 
daughter of a poor but honest farmer of the neighborhood, 
named Shelton; and now by the joint assistance of his father 
and his father-in-law, furnished with a small farm and one or two 
slaves, he undertook to support himself by agriculture. Yet, 
although he tilled the ground with his own hands, whether owing 
to his negligent, unsystematic habits, much insisted on by Wirt 
and others, or to the sterility of the soil, or to both, or to nei- 
ther, after an experiment of two years he failed in this enter- 
prise, as utterly as in the former. It was a period of unexam- 
pled scarcity and distress in Virginia; and young Henry was 
suifering a reverse of fortune which befell many others at the 
same time; and it would be, perhaps, unjust to attribute his 
failure exclusively or even mainly to his neglect or incompetency. 
However that may be, selling his scanty property at a sacrifice 
for cash, for lack of more profitable occupation he returned to 
merchandise. Still displaying indifference to the business of his 
store, he resumed his violin, his flute, his books, and his curious 



524 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

inspection of human nature; and occasionally shut up his store 
to indulge his favorite sports. He studied geography, and be- 
came a proficient in it; he examined the charters and perused 
the history of the colony, and pored over the translated annals 
of Greece and Rome. Livy became his favorite, and in his early 
life he read it at least once in every year. Such a taste would 
hardly have developed itself in one who had wasted his school- 
boy days in the torpor of indolence. It is true that Mr. Jeffer- 
son said of him in after years, " He was the hardest man to get to 
read a book that he ever knew." Henry himself perhaps 
somewhat affected a distaste for book-learning, in compliance with 
the vulgar prejudice; but he probably read much more than 
he got credit for. He did not, indeed, read a large number 
of books, as very few in Virginia did then; but he appears to 
have read solid books, and to have read them thoroughly. He was 
fond of British history. Having himself a native touch of Cer- 
vantic humor, he was not unacquainted with the inimitable ro- 
mance of Don Quixote. But he did not read books to talk 
about them. Soame Jenyns was a favorite. He often read 
Puffendorf, and Butler's Analogy was his standard volume 
through life. 

His second mercantile experiment turned out more unfortunate 
than the first, and left him again stranded on the shoals of bank- 
ruptcy. It was probably an adventure which no attention or 
energy could have made successful under the circumstances. 
These disappointments, made the more trying by an early mar- 
riage, did not visibly depress his spirit : his mind rose superior to 
the vicissitudes of fortune. The golden ore was passing through 
the alembic of adversity. He lived now for some years with his 
father-in-law, who was then keeping the tavern at Hanover 
Court-house. When- Mr. Shelton was occasionally absent, Mr. 
Henry supplied his place and attended to the guests. 

In the winter of the year 1760 Thomas Jefferson, then in his 
seventeenth year, on his way to the College of William and Mary, 
spent the Christmas holidays at the seat of Colonel Dandridge, 
in Hanover County. Patrick Henry, now twenty-four years of 
age, being a near neighbor, young Jefferson met with him there 
for the first time, and observed that his manners had something 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 525 

of coarseness in them ; that his passion was music, dancing, and 
pleasantry; and that in the last he excelled, and it attached 
everybody to him. But it is likely that the music of his voice 
was more attractive than even that of his violin. Henry dis- 
played on that occasion, which was one of festivity, no uncommon 
calibre of intellect or extent of information; but his misfortunes 
were not to be traced in his countenance or his conduct : self-pos- 
sessed repose is the characteristic of native power; complaint is 
the language of weakness. A secret consciousness of superior 
genius and a reliance upon Providence buoyed him up in the re- 
verses of fortune. While young Jefferson and Henry were en- 
joying together the Christmas holidays of 1760, how little did 
either anticipate the parts which they were destined to perform 
on the theatre of public life ! Young Henry embraced the 
study of the law, and after a short course of reading, was, in 
consideration of his genius and general information, and in spite 
of his meagre knowledge of law, and his ungainly appearance, 
admitted to the bar in the spring of 1760. His license was sub- 
scribed by Peyton and John Randolph and Robert C. Nicholas. 
Mr. "Wythe refused to sign it. 

In the "Parsons' Cause" Henry emerged from the horizon, 
and thenceforth became the star of the ascendant. 



CHAPTER LXVIL 

1763. 

Rev. Jonathan Boucher's Opinions on Slavery — Remarks. 

The Rev. Jonathan Boucher, a minister of the established 
church, in a sermon preached at Bray's, in Leedstown, Hanover 
Parish, on occasion of the general peace proclaimed in 1763, ex- 
pressed himself on the subject of slavery as follows : " The united 
motives of interest and humanity call on us to bestow some con- 
sideration on the case of those sad outcasts of society, our negro 
slaves; for my heart would smite me were I not in this hour of 
prosperity to entreat you (it being their unparalleled hard lot not 
to have the power of entreating for themselves) to permit them 
to participate in the general joy. Even those who are the suf- 
ferers can hardly be sorry when they see wrong measures carry- 
ing their punishment along with them. Were an impartial and 
competent observer of the state of society in these middle colonies 
asked whence it happens that Virginia and Maryland — which were 
the first planted, and which are superior to many colonies, and 
inferior to none in point of natural advantages — are still so ex- 
ceedingly behind most of the other British transatlantic possessions 
in all those improvements which bring credit and consequence to 
a country, he would answer, ' They are so because they are culti- 
vated by slaves.' I believe it is capable of demonstration, that ex- 
cept the immediate interest he has in the property of his slaves, it 
would be for every man's interest that there were no slaves, and 
for this plain reason, because the free labor of a free man, who is 
regularly hired and paid for the work he does, and only for what he 
does, is in the end cheaper than the eye-service of a slave. Some 
loss and inconvenience would no doubt arise from the general aboli- 
tion of slavery in these colonies, but were it done gradually, with 
judgment and with good temper, I have never yet seen it satis- 
factorily proved that such inconvenience would be either great or 
(526) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 527 

lasting. North American or West Indian planters might pos- 
sibly for a few years make less tobacco, or less rice, or less sugar, 
the raising of which might also cost them more; but that disad- 
vantage would probably soon be amply compensated to them by 
an advanced price, or (what is the same thing) by the reduced 
expense of cultivation. ******* 

"I do you no more than justice in bearing witness that in no 
part of the world were slaves ever better treated than, in general, 
they are in these colonies. That there are exceptions needs not 
to be concealed : in all countries there are bad men. And shame 
be to those men who, though themselves blessed with freedom, 
have minds less liberal than the poor creatures over whom they 
so meanly tyrannize ! Even your humanity, however, falls short 
of their exigencies. In one essential point I fear we are all defi- 
cient : they are nowhere sufficiently instructed. I am far from 
recommending it to you at once to set them all free, because to 
do so would be a heavy loss to you and probably no gain to them ; 
but I do entreat you to make them some amends for the drudgery 
of their bodies by cultivating their minds. By such means only 
can we hope to fulfil the ends which we may be permitted to be- 
lieve Providence had in view in suffering them to be brought 
among us. You may unfetter them from the chains of ignorance, 
you may emancipate them from the bondage of sin — the worst 
slavery to which they can be subjected — and by thus setting at 
liberty those that are bruised, though they still continue to be 
your slaves, they shall be delivered from the bondage of cor- 
ruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."* 

The Rev. Jonathan Boucher, was born in Cumberland County, 
England, in 1738, and brought up at Wigton Grammar School. He 
came over to Virginia at the age of sixteen, and was nominated by 
the vestry of Hanover Parish, in the County of King George, be- 
fore he was in orders. Returning to England for ordination, he 
recrossed the Atlantic, and entered upon the duties of that parish 
on the banks of the Rappahannock. He removed soon afterwards 
to St. Mary's Parish, in Caroline County, upon the same river. 
After remaining here a good many years and enjoying the esteem 

* Anderson's Hist, of Church of England in the Colonies, second ed., iii. 159. 



528 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

of his people, he removed to Maryland, and was there ejected 
from his rectory at the breaking out of the Revolution, when ho 
returned to England. His Discourses, preached between 1763 
and 1775, were published by him when he was Vicar of Epsom, 
in Surrey, in 1797. 

Abraham, the father of the faithful, was a slaveholder; upon 
his death his servants passed by descent to his son Isaac, as in 
like manner those of Isaac descended to Jacob. They were 
hereditary bondsmen, and, like chattels, bought and sold. Job, a 
pattern of piety, was a slaveholder, and, like Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob, won no small portion of his claims to a character of high 
and exemplary virtue from the manner in which he discharged 
his duty to his slaves. 

The master who faithfully performs his duties toward his slaves 
is a high example of virtue, and the slave who renders his service 
faithfully is worthy of equal commendation. If the rights of the 
slave are narrow, his duties are proportionally limited. 

The institution of slavery, divinely appointed, was maintained 
for five hundred years in Abraham's family. When the patri- 
archal dispensation came to an end, the right of property in slaves 
was recognized in the decalogue. The system was incorporated 
into the Mosaic law, and so continued to the end of the Jewish 
dispensation, and was nowhere denounced as a moral evil, nor 
was any reproof uttered by the prophets against the system on 
account of the evils connected with it. 

The primitive Christian church consisted largely of slaveholders 
and slaves, and the slavery of the Roman empire, in which the 
early churches were planted, corresponded with that of Virginia, 
and where it differed, it was worse. The relation of master and 
servant is placed by the apostles upon the same footing as that 
of parent and child, and of husband and wife.* It is enjoined 
upon servants to be obedient to their masters, whether "good 
and gentle, or froward." Christian servants were commanded to 
obey their masters, whether heathens or believers; and Christians, 
to withdraw themselves from any, who, rejecting divine authority, 
should teach a contrary doctrine. f 

* Epbesians, vi. ; Colossians, iii., iv. -J- 1 Timothy, vi. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 529 

In the New Testament no censure is cast upon the institution 
of slavery, no master is denounced for holding slaves, nor ad- 
vised to emancipate them. The evils incidental to the relation 
of master and slave are, in kind, like those incidental to the other 
domestic relations, and do not render the one unlawful or sinful 
any more than the others. The evils of slavery are not in the 
relation, but in the parties to it; therefore the abolition of the 
relation (the whites and the blacks still continuing together) would 
not extinguish the evils, but only change them, and a new relation 
would be substituted, fraught with still greater evils. The two 
races, separated by a barrier of natural incompatibility, cannot 
coalesce, nor can they coexist on equal terms. 

The evils connected with slavery are, like others, to be remedied 
by the reforming influence of Christianity. Slavery originated in a 
curse, but out of it Providence has mysteriously educed a blessing, 
as from poisonous flowers honey is extracted by the bee.* 

The religious instruction of the slaves in Virginia was, with 
some honorable exceptions, too generally neglected by the minis- 
ters of the established church. The churches afforded but little 
room or accommodation for the negroes, and the difficulties in 
the way of imparting instruction to them were no doubt great, 
yet by no means insuperable. The Rev. Samuel Davies appears 
to have labored more successfully for their benefit than any other 
minister in Virginia, either before his time or since. The Rev. 
Mr. Wright, co-operating with him in this work, established 
Sunday-schools, for the instruction of negroes, in the County of 
Cumberland, in the year 1756.f 



* Brief Examination of Scripture Testimony on the Institution of Slavery, by 
the Rev. Thornton Stringfellow; Essay on Abolition of Slavery, by the Rev. Dr. 
George A. Baxter; Rights and Duties of Masters, by the Rev. Dr. J. H. Thorn- 
well ; The Christian Doctrine of Slavery, by the Rev. George D. Armstrong, D. D. 

■j- Footc's Sketches, first series, 291. 

34 



CHAPTER LXVIII. 



Disputes between Colonies and Mother Country — Stamp Act — Patrick Henry — 
Contested Election — Speaker Robinson — Randolph — Bland — Pendleton — 
Wythe — Lee. 

The successful termination of the war with France paved the 
way for American independence. Hitherto, from the first settle- 
ment of the colonies, Great Britain, without seeking a direct 
revenue from them, with perhaps some inconsiderable excep- 
tions, had been satisfied with the appointment of their principal 
officers, and a monopoly of their trade. Now, when the colonies 
had grown more capable of resisting impositions, the mother 
country rose in her demands. Thus it was that disputes between 
Great Britain and the colonies, commencinar in 1764 and lasting 
about twelve years, brought on the war of the Revolution, and 
ended in a disruption of the empire. This result, inevitable sooner 
or later in the natural course of events, was only precipitated by 
the impolitic and arbitrary measures of the British government. 
In the general loyalty of the colonies, new commercial restric- 
tions, although involving a heavy indirect taxation, would proba- 
bly have been submitted to for many years longer; but the novel 
scheme of direct taxation, without their consent, was repro- 
bated as contrary to their natural and chartered rights; and a 
flame of discontent, bursting forth here and there, finally over- 
spread the whole country. 

There appears, indeed, to have been no essential difference 
between internal and external taxation; for it was still taxation; 
and taxation without representation. But the internal or direct 
taxation was new, obvious, and more offensive. The restrictions 
of the navigation act, vehemently resisted at their first enact- 
ment, and not less so in Virginia and other Southern colonies than 
in the North, had never been acquiesced in, but only submitted 
(530) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 531 

to from necessity; and long eluded not only by New England, 
but also by other colonies, by a trade originally contraband, 
indeed, but which had lost much of its illegitimate character by 
immemorial usage, and had acquired a sort of prescriptive right 
by that consent on the part of the British government which was 
to be inferred from its apparent acquiescence in the violation. 
For a hundred years preceding the Revolution the commerce of 
the colonies may be said to have been in the main practically 
free, as Great Britain was able to furnish the manufactures which 
the colony needed. But now the mother country undertook to 
enforce the obsolete navigation act and her revenue laws with a 
new vigor, which was not confined to the American colonies, 
but embraced the whole British empire. As applied to the colo- 
nies the measure was equally impolitic and unjust: impolitic, be- 
cause by breaking up the colonial trade with the West Indies, 
England crippled her own customer; unjust, because this trade 
had grown up by the tacit consent of the government, and a dis- 
solution of it would be ruinous to the commercial colonies. Be- 
sides these new restraints upon commerce, parliament had long 
endeavored to restrict colonial industry; and although these 
restrictions fell most heavily on the Northern colonies, their in- 
jurious effects were felt by all of them. As far back as the time 
of Bacon's rebellion, a patriotic woman of the colony congratu- 
lated her friends that now "Virginia can build ships, and, like 
New England, trade to any part of the world." And the paren- 
thesis of religious liberty and free trade enjoyed by Virginia 
under Cromwell was never forgotten. But, inasmuch as these 
restrictions fell more heavily on the North than on the South, so 
the co-operation of the South was the more meritorious as being 
more disinterested. And the oppressions of Great Britain must 
have been intolerable, when, notwithstanding all the differences 
of opinion and of institutions, the thirteen colonics became 
united in a compact phalanx of resistance.* 

The recent war had inspired the provincial troops with more 
confidence in themselves, and had rendered the British regulars 
less formidable in their eyes. Everything unknown is magnifi- 

* Sabine's Loyalists, 36. 



532 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

cent. The success of the allied arms had put an end to the de- 
pendency of the colonies upon the mother country for protection 
against the French. In several of the provinces Germans, 
Dutch, Swedes, and Frenchmen were found commingled with the 
Anglican population. Great Britain, by long wars ably con- 
ducted during Pitt's administration, had acquired glory and an 
extension of empire; but, in the mean time, she had incurred an 
enormous debt. The British officers, entertained with a hospi- 
tality in America, carried back to England exaggerated reports 
of the wealth of the colonies. The Colonial governors and thp 
British ministry had often been thwarted and annoyed by the 
republican and independent, and sometimes factious spirit, of the 
colonial assemblies, and longed to see them curbed. The British 
merchants complained to the government of the heavy losses en- 
tailed upon them by the depreciated colonial paper currency. 
The Church of England was indignant at the violent opposition 
to the introduction of bishops into the colonies, at the decision 
of the "Parsons' Cause," and other provocations and indigni- 
ties. The advice of many governors and military officers had 
deeply impressed the government with the necessity of laying 
direct taxes as the only means of retaining the control of the 
colonies. The British administration, in the first years of the 
reign of George the Third, was in the hands of a corrupt oli- 
garchy, and the ministers determined to lessen the burden at 
home by levying a direct tax upon the colonies. The loyalty of 
the Americans had never been warmer than at the close of the 
war. They had expended their treasure and their blood freely; 
and the recollection of mutual , sufferings and a common glory 
strengthened their attachment to the mother country; but these 
loyal sentiments were destined soon to wither and expire. The 
colonies, too, had involved themselves in a heavy debt. Within 
three years, intervening between 1756 and 1759, parliament had 
granted them a large amount of money to encourage their efforts ; 
yet, notwithstanding that and the extraordinary supplies appro- 
priated by the assemblies, a heavy debt still remained unliqui- 
dated. When, therefore, parliament in a few years thereafter 
undertook to extort money by a direct tax from provinces to 
which she had recently granted incomparably larger sums, it was 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 533 

conceived that the object of the minister, in this innovation, was 
not simply to raise the inconsiderable amount of the tax, but to 
establish gradually a new and absolute system of "taxation with- 
out representation." It was easy to foresee that it would be 
made the instrument of unlimited extortions, and would extin- 
guish the practical legislative independence of the Anglo- Ameri- 
can colonies. Neither the English parliament, nor those who 
were represented by the lords and commons, would pay a farthing 
of the tax which they imposed on the colonies. On the con- 
trary, their property would have been exempted in exact propor- 
tion to the burdens laid on the colonies. Taxes without reason 
or necessity, and oppressions without end, would have ensued from 
submitting to the usurpation.* 

After war had raged for nearly eight years, peace was con- 
cluded at Paris, in February, 1763, by which France ceded 
Canada, and Spain the Floridas, to Great Britain. On this 
occasion the territory of Virginia was again reduced in extent. 
The conquests, and the culminating power, and the arrogant 
pretensions of the proud island of Great Britain excited the 
jealousy and the fears of Europe; while in England the admi- 
nistration had engendered a formidable opposition at home. In 
the year 1763 the national debt had accumulated to an enormous 
amount; for which an annual interest of twenty-two millions of 
dollars was paid. The minister proposed to levy upon the colo- 
nics part of this sum, alleging that as the recent war had been 
waged partly on their account, it was but fair that they should 
contribute a share of the expense ; and the right was claimed for 
parliament, according to the British constitution, to tax every 
portion of the empire. The absolute right of legislating for the 
colonies had long, if not always, been claimed, theoretically, by 
England; but she had never exerted it in practice to any sensi- 
ble extent in the essential article of taxation. The inhabitants 
of the colonies admitted their obligation to share the expense of 
the war, but insisted that the necessary revenue could be legiti- 
mately levied only by their own legislatures ; that taxation and 

* Letter from R. H. Lee to his sister, Mrs. Corbin, written in 1778. Hist 
Mag., i. 3G0. 



534 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

representation were inseparable; and that remote colonies not 
represented in parliament were entitled to tax themselves. The 
justice of parliament would prove a feeble barrier against the 
demands of avarice; and as in England the privilege of granting 
money was the palladium of the people's liberty against the en- 
croachment of the crown, so the same right was the proper safe- 
guard of the colonies against the tyranny of the imperial govern- 
ment. Such were the views of American patriots ; yet it was a 
subject on which wise and good men might differ in Great Britain 
and in America. 

Upon the death of the Rev. William Yates, in 1764, the Rev. 
James Horrocks succeeded him as President of the College of 
William and Mary. About the same time the Rev. William Ro- 
binson, commissary, dying, Mr. Horrocks succeeded him in that 
place. Rev. John Camm, who aspired to the office, was disap- 
pointed in it owing to some difficulty with Governor Dinwiddie. 

In March, 1764, parliament passed resolutions declaratory of 
an intention to impose a stamp-duty in America, and avowing the 
right and expediency of taxing the colonies. This was the im- 
mediate fountain-head of the Revolution. These resolutions gave 
great dissatisfaction in America ; but were popular in England, 
where the prospect of lightening their own burdens at the ex- 
pense of the colonists recommended them to the English tax- 
payers. The resolutions met with no overt opposition, but the 
public discontents were increased when it came to be known that 
large bodies of British soldiers were to be sent over and quar- 
tered in the colonies. 

Patrick Henry, during the year, removed from Hanover to 
Louisa, where he soon endeared himself to the people, although 
he never courted their favor by flattery. He sometimes hunted 
deer for several days together, carrying his provision with him, 
and at night camping out in the woods. He was known to enter 
Louisa court in a coarse cloth coat, stained with the blood of the 
deer, greasy leather breeches, with leggings for boots, and a pair 
of saddle-bags on his arm.* 

In the fall of 1764 there occurred in the house of burgesses a 

* Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry, 37. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 535 

case of contested election, the parties being James Littlepage, 
the member returned for the County of Hanover, and the other 
candidate, Nathaniel West Dandridge. Mr. Littlepage was 
charged with bribery and corruption. The case was tried before 
the committee of privileges and elections, and Mr. Henry ap- 
peared as attorney for Mr. Dandridge. Mr. Henry was coarsely 
dressed and quite unknown, yet retained his self-possession in 
spite of the supercilious smiles of aristocracy. The right of suf- 
frage and the purity of the elective franchise afforded him a 
theme for a speech which astonished the audience; and Judge 
Winston pronounced the argument "superior to anything he had 
ever heard." 

The speaker of the house, John Robinson, had held that post 
for a quarter of a century, and combining with it the office of 
treasurer, his influence was wide and well established. His per- 
sonal popularity was great, and embraced men of all classes. 
His strong and cultivated mind was set off by polished manners; 
his presence, imposing and commanding. 

Peyton Randolph, the king's attorney-general, in influence se- 
cond only to the speaker, was discreet and dignified; thoroughly 
versed in legislative proceedings; of excellent judgment, yet 
without extraordinary genius ; a sound lawyer ; in politics conser- 
vative; intolerant to dissenters. 

Richard Bland was enlightened and laborious, a profound 
reasoner, an ungraceful speaker, but an excellent writer; a wise 
but over-cautious statesman, like Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, 
marching up with fearless logic to his conclusions, but pausing 
there, unwilling to carry them into effect. 

Edmund Pendleton was the grandson of Philip Pendleton, a 
teacher, who came over to Virginia about the year 1674 with his 
brother, Nathaniel, a minister. Philip Pendleton's eldest son, at 
the age of eighteen, married Mary Taylor, aged only thirteen, 
and Edmund was the fourth son of this union. From a sister was 
descended General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, of the United 
States army. Edmund Pendleton was born (his father dying be- 
fore his birth) in 1721, in Caroline County. Left poor and 
without any classical education, it is said that after ploughing all 
day he pursued his studies at night. Placed in his fourteenth 



536 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

year in the office of Colonel Benjamin Robinson, (brother of the 
speaker,) clerk of the county court of Caroline, he became 
acquainted with legal forms. He could hardly have spent much 
time in ploughing before his fourteenth year. At the age of six- 
teen he was appointed clerk to the vestry of St. Mary's Parish; 
and the salary derived from that petty office he expended in the 
purchase of books, which he diligently read. In his twentieth 
year he was licensed to practise the law, after having been 
strictly examined by the eminent lawyer Barradall. About the 
same time young Pendleton was made clerk of the county court 
martial. Before he was of age he married, in opposition to the 
advice of his friends, Betty Roy, remarkable for her beauty. 
Upon being licensed he soon acquired a large practice. His wife 
dying in less than two years after the marriage, in his twenty- 
fourth year he married Sarah Pollard. He now began to prac- 
tise in the general court. In the year 1752 he was elected one 
of the representatives of Caroline, and so continued down to the 
time of the Revolution. Mr. Wirt says that he was a prote'ge' 
of Speaker Robinson, who introduced him into the circle of re- 
fined society. Mr. Grigsby thinks that the term prote'ge' was in- 
applicable to him, as he was the architect of his own fortune. 
It is certain that Speaker Robinson found in him his ablest 
supporter in the question of separating the offices of speaker 
and treasurer. Mr. Pendleton became the leader of the conser- 
vative party, who, while they wished to effect a redress of griev- 
ances, were opposed to a revolution of the government, and who 
stood out against it until opposition became unavailing. Never- 
theless, by his integrity, the charm of his manners, and his great 
abilities, he attained and filled with honor several of the highest 
posts. As a lawyer, debater, statesman, he was of the highest 
order in the colony ; yet he read little besides law, and was with- 
out taste for literature. The report of a law case had for him 
the charm which a novel has for others. As a writer he was un- 
skilled, and quite devoid of the graces of style and rhythm. 
His voice was melodious, and his articulation distinct; his elocu- 
tion graceful and effective; with a serene self-possession that 
nothing could disturb, he was ever ready to seize every advantage 
that occurred in debate; but he could lay no claim to the lofty 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 537 

powers which "shake the human soul." Although a new man, 
he was, as often happens, behind none in his extreme conservative 
views in church and state. In a brief autobiography, he says of 
himself: " Without any classical education, without patrimony, 
without what is called the influence of family connection, and 
without solicitation, I have attained the highest offices of my 
country. I have often contemplated it as a rare and extraordi- 
nary instance, and pathetically exclaimed, 'Not unto me, not 
unto me, Lord, but unto thy name be the praise!' "* 

George Wythe was born in Elizabeth City, (1726,) his father 
having been a burgess from that county. George, on the side of 
his mother's family, named Keith, inherited a taste for letters. 
After studying the law, having come into possession of a compe- 
tent estate, he wasted several years in indolence and dissipation; 
but he afterwards became a close student, having imbibed a taste 
for learning from the society of Governor Fauquier and Profes- 
sor Small. He became accomplished in classic literature, and 
profoundly versed in the law. He is described as having been 
simple and artless, incapable of the little crooked wisdom of cun- 
ning, and his integrity was incorruptible. 

Richard Henry Lee was distinguished by a face of the Roman 
order : his forehead high but not wide, his head leaning gracefully 
forward; his person and face fine. He was an accomplished 
scholar, of wide reading. His voice was musical. He had lost 
the use of one hand by an accident, and kept it covered with a 
bandage of black silk; but his gesture was graceful. His style 
of eloquence was chaste, classic, electric, and delightful. As 
Mr. Jefferson has said that Patrick Henry spoke as Homer 
wrote, so Mr. Lee may be, perhaps, compared to Virgil. Henry 
and Lee coincided in political views, co-operated in public life, 
and were confidential correspondents and warm and constant 
friends. 



* Wirt's Life of Henry, 47; Old Churches, Ministers, etc., 298; Grigsby's 
Convention of '76, p. 46. 



CHAPTER LXIX. 



176i5-X7'6G. 



The Stamp Act — Virginia opposes it — Loan-office Scheme — Members of Council 
and Burgesses — Repeal of Stamp Act — Treasurer Robinson's Defalcation — 
Offices of Speaker and Treasurer separated — Lee's Speech — Miscellaneous — 
Family of Robinson. 

On the 7th clay of February, 1765, Grenville introduced 
in the house of commons the stamp act, declaring null and 
void instruments of writing in daily use in the colonies, unless 
executed on stamped paper or parchment, charged with a duty 
imposed by parliament. The bill, warmly debated in that 
house, but carried by a vote of five to one, met with no oppo- 
sition in the house of lords, and on the twenty-second of March 
received the royal sanction. At first it was taken for granted 
that the act would be enforced. It was not to take effect till 
the first day of November, more than seven months from its 
passage. The Virginians were a proud race, the more jealous of 
their liberties, having, like the Spartans, the degradation of 
slavery continually in their view, impatient of restraint, and un- 
willing to succumb to the control of any superior power, "snuffing 
the tainted breeze of tyranny afar." Many of them even affected 
to consider the colonies as independent states, only linked to 
Great Britain as owing allegiance to a common crown, and as 
bound to her by natural affection. 

The assembly met on the 1st day of May, 1765. Patrick 
Henry took his seat in it on the twentieth. Notwithstanding 
the opposition of the people to the stamp act, yet the place-men, 
the large landed proprietors, who were the professed adherents 
of government, still held the control of the legislature. Dis- 
gusted by the delays and sophistries of this class during the pre- 
ceding session, one of the Johnsons, two brothers that represented 
(538) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 539 

Louisa County, declared his intention to bring into the house 
Patrick Henry, who was equally distinguished by his eloquence 
and by an opposition to the claims of parliament, verging on 
sedition. Johnson accordingly, by accepting the office of coroner, 
vacated his seat in favor of Henry, who thus came to be one of 
the representatives of that frontier county in the assembly of 
1765 — an incident connected with events of transcendent im- 
portance. 

On the twenty-fourth, Peyton Randolph reported to the house, 
from the committee of the whole, a scheme for the establishment 
of a loan-office or bank. The plan was to borrow .£240,000 ster- 
ling from British merchants, at an interest of five per cent. ; a 
fund for paying the interest and sinking the principal to be raised 
by an impost duty on tobacco; bills of exchange to be drawn for 
,£100,000, with which the paper money in circulation was to be 
redeemed, the remaining £140,000 to be imported in specie, and 
deposited here for a stock whereon to circulate bank notes, to be 
lent out on permanent security, at an interest of five per cent., to 
be paid yearly, a proportion of the principal at the end of four 
years, another proportion at the end of five years, and afterwards 
by equal payments once in four years, until the whole should be 
repaid. 

When it was urged in favor of this scheme, that from the dis- 
tressed condition of the colony, men of fortune had contracted 
debts, which, if exacted suddenly, must ruin them, but which, 
with a little indulgence, might be liquidated, Mr. Henry ex- 
claimed: "What, sir! is it proposed then to reclaim the spend- 
thrift from his dissipation and extravagance by filling his pockets 
with money?" Thomas Jefferson, then a law-student at Wil- 
liamsburg, was present during this debate, and the manner in 
which Henry uttered this sentence was indelibly impressed on his 
memory. 

The resolutions embodying this scheme were passed by the 
house, and a committee of conference was appointed at the same 
time, and before the vote upon them was taken in the council. 
In this conference the managers on the part of the house were 
Eilm in id Pendleton, Mr. Archibald Cary, Mr. Benjamin Har- 



540 HISTORY OF THE COLONY ^ AND 

rison, Mr. Burwell, Mr. Braxton, and Mr. Fleming. The council* 
refused to concur in the scheme. Had it been carried into effect, 
the indebtedness of Virginia at the eve of the Revolution would 
have probably been greatly augmented. 

Virginia led the way in opposing the stamp act. On the 30th 
of May, 1765, near the close of the session, Patrick Henry 
offered the following resolutions : — 

"Resolved, That the first adventurers and settlers of this his 
majesty's colony and dominion, brought with them, and trans- 
mitted to their posterity and all other his majesty's subjects since 
inhabiting in this his majesty's said colony, all the privileges, 
franchises, and immunities that have at any time been held, en- 
joyed, and possessed by the people of Great Britain. 

"Resolved, That by two royal charters granted by King James 
the First, the colonists aforesaid are declared entitled to all the 
privileges, liberties, and immunities of denizens and natural-born 
subjects, to all intents and purposes as if they had been abiding 
and born within the realm of England. 

"Resolved, That the taxation of the people by themselves, or 
by persons chosen by themselves to represent them, who can only 
know what taxes the people are able to bear, and the easiest 
mode of raising them, and are equally affected by such taxes 
themselves, is the distinguishing characteristic of British freedom, 
and without which the ancient constitution cannot subsist. 

"Resolved, That his majesty's liege people of this most ancient 
colony have uninterruptedly enjoyed the right of being thus 
governed by their own assembly in the article of their taxes and 
internal police, and that the same hath never been forfeited, or 



* The following is a list of the council in 1764 : — 

The Honorable John Blair, President. 
William Nelson, Philip Ludwell Lee, 

Thomas Nelson, 
Peter Randolph, 
Richard Corbin, 
William Byrd, 



John Tayloe, 
B,obert Carter, 
Presley Thornton, 
Robert Barwell, Esquires. 



Of the members of the house at this time may be mentioned the names of 
Cabell, Cary, Wythe, Pendleton, Harrison, Marshall, Washington, Carter, 
Robinson, Lee, Bland, Mercer, Page, Braxton, Henry, Nelson, and Randolph. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 541 

any other way given up, but hath been constantly recognized by 
the king and people of Great Britain. 

" Resolved, Therefore, that the general assembly of this colony 
have the sole right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon 
the inhabitants of this colony, and that every attempt to vest 
such power in any person or persons whatsoever other than the 
general assembly aforesaid, has a manifest tendency to destroy 
British as well as American freedom."* 

Mr. Henry was young, being about twenty-eight years of age, 
and a new member; but finding the men of weight in the house 
averse to opposition, and the stamp act about to take effect, and 
no person likely to step forth, alone, unadvised, and unassisted, 
he wrote these resolutions on a blank leaf of an old law book, 
"Coke upon Littleton." Before offering them, he showed them 
to two members, John Fleming, of Goochland, and George John- 
son, of Fairfax. Mr. Johnson seconded the resolutions. Speaker 
Robinson objected to them as inflammatory. The first three 
appear to have passed by small majorities, without alteration. 
The fourth was passed amended, so as to read as follows: "Re- 
solved, That his majesty's liege people of this his most ancient 
and loyal colony have, without interruption, enjoyed the inesti- 
mable right of being governed by such laws respecting their in- 
ternal polity and taxation as are derived from their own consent, 
with the approbation of their sovereign or his substitute, and that 
the same hath'never been forfeited or yielded up, but hath been 
constantly recognized by the king and people of Great Britain." 

The last of the five resolutions was carried by a majority of 
only one vote, being twenty to nineteen, and the debate on it, in 
the language of Mr. Jefferson, was "most bloody." Speaker 
Robinson, Peyton Randolph, attorney-general, Richard Bland, 
Edmund Pendleton, George Wythe, and all the old leaders of 
the house and proprietors of large estates, made a strenuous re- 
sistance. Mr. Jefferson says the resolutions of Henry "were 



* Two other resolutions were offered, but not by Henry, to the effect that the 
people of Virginia were not under any obligation to obey any laws not enacted 
by their own assembly, and that any one who should maintain the contrary 
should be deemed an enemy to the colony. These two did not pass. 



542 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

opposed by Robinson and all the cyphers of the aristocracy." 
John Randolph resisted them with all his might. , How Washing- 
ton voted is not known, the yeas and nays never being recorded 
on the journal in that age. He considered the stamp act ill- 
judged and unconstitutional, and was of opinion that it could not 
be enforced. Mr. Henry was ably supported in a logical argu- 
ment by Mr. George Johnson, a lawyer of Alexandria. 

In the course of this stormy debate many threats were uttered 
by the party for submission, and much abuse heaped upon Mr. 
Henry, but he carried the young members with him. Jefferson, 
then a student of William and Mary, standing at the door of the 
house, overheard the debate. After Speaker Robinson had de- 
clared the result of the vote, Peyton Randolph, as he entered the 
lobby near Jefferson, exclaimed with an oath, "I would have 
given five hundred guineas for a single vote!" One more vote 
would have defeated the last resolution.* 

Scarce a vestige of this speech of Henry survives. Mr. Jef- 
ferson declared that he never heard such eloquence from any 
other man. While Mr. Henry was inveighing against the stamp 
act, he exclaimed: "Tarquin and Csesar had each his Brutus, 
Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third" — ("Trea- 
son!" cried the speaker; "Treason! Treason!" resounded from 
every part of the house. Henry, rising to a loftier attitude, with 
unfaltering voice, and unwavering eye fixed on the speaker, 
finished the sentence,) — "may profit by the example. If this be 
treason, make the most of it." Henry was now the leading man 
in Virginia, and his resolutions gave the impulse to the other 
colonies, and the spirit of resistance spread rapidly through them, 
gathering strength as it proceeded. On the afternoon of the 
same day Mr. Henry left Williamsburg, passing along Duke of 
Gloucester Street, on his way to his home in Louisa, wearing 
buckskin breeches, his saddle-bags on his arm, leading a lean 
horse, and chatting with Paul Carrington, who walked by his side. 

Young Jefferson happened on the following morning to be in 
the hall of the burgesses before the meeting of the house, and he 

* Paul Carrington, in after years, distinctly remembered seeing Thomas Jef- 
ferson among the auditors in this debate. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 513 

observed Colonel Peter Randolph, one of the council, sitting at 
the clerk's table examining the journals, to find a precedent for 
expunging a vote of the house. Part of the burgesses having gone 
home, and some of the more timid of those who had voted for the 
strongest resolution having become alarmed, as soon as the house 
met, a motion was made and carried to expunge the last resolution 
from the journals. The manuscript journal of that day disap- 
peared shortly after and has never been found.* The four re- 
maining on the journal and the two additional ones offered in 
committee, but not reported, were published in the Gazette. On 
the first of June the governor dissolved the assembly. 

At the instance of Massachusetts, guided by the advice of 
James Otis, a congress met in October, 1765, at New York. 
The assemblies of Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia were 
prevented by their governors from sending deputies. The con- 
gress made a declaration denying the right of parliament to tax 
the colonies, and concurred in petitions to the king and the 
commons and a memorial to the lords. Virginia and the other 
two colonies not represented forwarded petitions accordant with 
those adopted by the congress. The committee appointed by the 
Virginia assembly to draught the petitions consisted of Peyton 
Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, Landon Carter, George Wythe, 
Edmund Pendleton, Benjamin Harrison, Richard Bland, Archi- 
bald Cary, and Mr. Fleming. The address to the king was 
written by Peyton Randolph, the address to the commons by 
George Wythe, and the memorial to the lords was attributed to 
Richard Bland. 

Opposition to the stamp act now blazed forth everywhere ; and 
it was disregarded and defied. In the last week of October, 
George Mercer, distributor of stamps for Virginia, landed at 
Hampton, and was rudely treated by the mob, who, by the inter- 
position of some influential gentlemen, were prevailed on to dis- 
perse without offering him any personal injury. At Williams- 
burg, as he was walking toward the capitol, on his way to the 
governor's palace, he was required by several gentlemen from 
different counties, the general court being in session, to say 

* Wirt's Henry, 5G— 61. 



544 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

whether he intended to enter on the duties of the office. At his 
request he was allowed to wait on the governor before replying, 
and he was accompanied to the coffee-house where the governor, 
most of the council, and many gentlemen were assembled. The 
crowd increasing and growing impatient in their demands, Mr. 
Mercer came forward and promised to give a categorical answer 
at five o'clock the next evening. At that time he met a large 
concourse of people, including the principal merchants of the co- 
lony. He then engaged not to undertake the execution of the 
stamp act until he received further orders from England, nor 
then, without the assent of the assembly of Virginia. He was 
immediately borne out of the capitol gate, amid loud acclama- 
tions, and carried to the coffee-house, where an elegant entertain- 
ment was prepared for him, and was welcomed there by renewed 
acclamations, drums beating, and French-horns and other musi- 
cal instruments sounding. At night the bells were set a-ringing, 
and the town was illuminated. Mr. Mercer was, in 1769, ap- 
pointed lieutenant-governor of North Carolina.* 

The colonists began to betake themselves to domestic manufac- 
tures; and foreign luxuries were laid aside. In the mean while 
a change had taken place in the British ministry; the stamp act 
was reconsidered in parliament; Dr. Franklin was examined at 
the bar of the house of commons. Lord Camden, in the house 
of lords, and Mr. Pitt, in the commons, favored a repeal of the 
act; and, after providing for the dependence of America on Great 
Britain, parliament repealed the stamp act in March, 1766. On 
the second day of May news of the repeal reached Williamsburg 
by the ship Lord Baltimore, arrived in York River, from Lon- 
don. The joyful intelligence was celebrated at Norfolk ; and at 
Williamsburg by a ball and illumination. 

At the session of November, 1766, Mr. John Robinson, who 
had for many years held the offices of speaker and treasurer, 
being now dead, an investigation of his accounts exposed an 
enormous defalcation. A motion to separate the offices, brought 
forward by Richard Henry Lee, and supported by Mr. Henry, 

* Martin's Hist, of N. C, ii. 203, 250. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 545 

proved successful. Edmund Pendleton was at the head of the 
party that resisted it.* 

Mr. Lee on this occasion pursued his course in opposition to 
the confederacy of the great in place, the influence of family 
connections, and that still more dangerous foe to puhlic virtue, 
private friendship. The contest appears to have been bitter, and 
it engendered animosities which survived the lapse of years and 
the absorbing scenes of the outbreaking Revolution. 

A fragment of the speech delivered by Mr. Lee on this occa- 
sion has been preserved. f After supporting his views by histori- 
cal examples, he remarks: "If, then, wise and good men in all 
ages have deemed it for the security of liberty to divide places 
of power and profit; if this maxim has not been departed from 
without either injury or destroying freedom — as happened to 
Rome with her decemvirs and her dictator — why should Virgi- 
nia so early quit the paths of wisdom, and seal her own ruin, as 
far as she can do it, by uniting in one person the only two great 
places in the power of her assembly to bestow?" The fragment 
of this speech ends just where Mr. Lee was about to combat the 
arguments in support of the union of the two offices. Among 

* This affair formed the subject of some crude verses, entitled "The Contest." 
The following is an extract : — 

"And Curtius, too, who, from clear Chellowe's height, 
Secrets deep lying in the dark recess 

Of 's clouded brain, can well explore, 

Demands my thanks sincere ; freed from the froth 

Of Metriotes'* hyperbolic style, 

Or wine burgessian, potent to deceive, 

And to produce a vote of huge expense. 

The tribute due to genius and to sense 

Is yours, judicious Burke! without compeer; 

The reverend priest the bayic crown presents ; 

Accept it, then ; nor Grymes of mighty bone, 

And fist, sledge-hammer like ; nor grimful face 

Of Ampthill's rustic chief, f nor the abuse 

By him in senatorian consult used, 

Eulogies to true merit shall prevent." 

(• Lee Papers in S. Lit. Messenger, 1858, p. 119. 



* John Kandolph, afterwards attorney-general. f Archibald Cary. 

35 



546 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

these arguments were, that innovation is dangerous ; that the ad- 
ditional office of treasurer was necessary to give the speaker that 
pre-eminence that is befitting his station; that the parliamentary 
powers of the speaker give the chair no influence, as in the exer- 
cise thereof in pleasing one he may offend a dozen; that a 
separation of the offices might induce the government at home to 
take the appointment out of their hands altogether ; and that the 
support of the dignity of the chair necessarily involved a great 
expense. 

It could not have been difficult to refute these arguments. 
The combination of the offices of speaker and treasurer was itself 
an innovation of as recent date as 1738. The speaker of the 
English house of commons did not find the office of treasurer 
necessary to maintain his dignity. If the office of speaker of 
itself gave no influence, why had it been always sought for? 
Nor could the separation of the offices induce the home govern- 
ment to take the appointments from the assembly, for that separa- 
tion was itself virtually a government measure. Chalmers, who 
was well versed in the documentary history of the colonies, says : 
"Too attentive to overlook the dangerous pre-eminence of Ro- 
binson, the board of trade took this opportunity to enjoin [1758] 
the new governor* to use every rational endeavor to procure a 
separation of the conjoined offices which he improperly held."f 
Lee, Henry, and others, who voted for the separation, were in 
effect carrying out the wishes of the English government. Nor 
does it appear probable that the government was any more favor- 
able to the loan-office scheme than to the union of the offices of 
speaker and treasurer. 

Upon the death of Speaker Robinson, Richard Bland was a 
candidate for the chair, and was in favor of a separation of the 
offices of speaker and treasurer. He, in the latter part of May, 
entertained no suspicion of any malversation in office on the part 
of the late treasurer, although he was aware that such suspicions 
prevailed much among the people. He was at this time maturing 
a scheme for a loan-office, or government bank, which he thought 
would be of signal advantage, and would in a few years enable 

* Fauquier. f Hist, of Airier. Colonies, ii. 354. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIEGINIA. 547 

Virginia to discharge her debts without any tax for the future. 
It is singular that he should have been preparing to renew a. 
scheme so recently defeated. Whether he ever again revived it 
in the assembly, does not appear. Robert Carter Nicholas, at 
the same time a candidate for the place of treasurer, was likewise 
in favor of a disjunction of the two offices. To this position he 
and Bland were brought, as well by the inducements of personal 
promotion as by a regard for the public good. 

Peyton Randolph was made speaker; and Mr. Nicholas, who 
had been already appointed in May treasurer ad interim, by 
Governor Fauquier, was elected to that post by the assembly. 

Lewis Burwell, George Wythe, John Blair, Jr., John Ran- 
dolph, and Benjamin Waller were appointed to examine the state 
of the treasury. The deficit of the late treasurer exceeded 
one hundred thousand pounds. Mr. Robinson, amiable, liberal, 
and wealthy, had long been at the head of the aristocracy, and 
exerted an extraordinary influence in political affairs. He had 
lent lai-ge sums of the public money to friends involved in debt, 
especially to members of the assembly, confiding for its replace- 
ment upon his own ample fortune, and the securities taken on the 
loans. Mr. Wirt says that at length, apprehensive of a discovery 
of the deficit, he, with his friends in the assembly, devised the 
scheme of the loan-office the better to conceal it. The entire 
amount of the defalcation was eventually recovered from the 
estate of Robinson, which was sold in 1770 by Edmund Pendle- 
ton and Peter Lyons, surviving administrators.* Burk attributes 
Robinson's death to the mortification that he suffered on account 
of his defalcation. Bland and Nicholas, in their letters addressed 
to Richard Henry Lee, allude to it in terms of exquisite delicacy. 

The first of the family of Speaker Robinson of whom we have 
any account was John Robinson, of Cleasby, Yorkshire, England. 
His son John was Bishop of Bristol, and British envoy at the 
court of Sweden; he was also British plenipotentiary at the 
treaty of Utrecht, being, it is said, the last divine employed in a 
service of that kind. He was afterwards Bishop of London, in 
which office he continued until his death in 1723. Leaving no 

* Hcning, viii. 349. 



548 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

issue lie devised his real estate to his nephew, Christopher Robin- 
son, who had settled on the Rappahannock. His eldest son, John 
Robinson, born in 1682, was president of the council. He married 
Catherine, daughter of Robert Beverley, the historian. John 
Robinson, Jr., their eldest son, was treasurer and speaker, and is 
commonly known as "Speaker Robinson."* He resided at 
Mount Pleasant, on the Matapony, in King and Queen, the house 
there having been built for him, it is said, by Augustine Moore, 
of Chelsea, in King William, father of Lucy Moore, one of his 
wives. Her portrait is preserved at Chelsea ; his is preserved by 
his descendants. His other wife was Lucy Chiswell. He lies 
buried in the garden at Mount Pleasant. 

* Old Churches of Virginia, i. 378, in note. 



CHAPTER LXX. 

17'66-l , r68. 

Bland's Inquiry — Duties imposed by Parliament — Death of Fauquier — Succeeded 
by Blair — Baptists persecuted — Blair's Letter. 

In the year 1766 there was published at Williamsburg "An 
Inquiry into the Rights of the British Colonies," from the pen 
of Richard Bland.* In discussing the question, "Whether the 
colonies are represented in the British Parliament?" he traces 
the English constitution to its Saxon origin, when every free- 
holder was a member of the Wittenagemote or Parliament. This 
appears from the statutes 1st Henry the Fifth, and 8th Henry 
the Sixth, limiting the elective franchise, that is, depriving many 
of the right of representation in parliament. How could they 
have been thus deprived, if, as was contended, all the people of 
England were still virtually represented ? He acknowledged that 
a very large portion of the people of Great Britain were not en- 
titled to representation, and were, nevertheless, bound to obey 
the laws of the realm, but then the obligation of these laws does 
not arise from their being virtually represented. The American 
colonies, excepting the few planted in the eighteenth century, 
were founded by private adventurers, who established themselves, 
without any expense to the nation, in this uncultivated and almost 
uninhabited country, so that they stand on a different foot from 
the Roman or any ancient colonies. Men have a natural right 
to quit their own country and retire to another, and set up there 
an independent government for themselves. But if they have 



* The title-page is as follows: "An Liquiry into the Rights of the British 
Colonies, intended as an Answer to ' The Regulations lately made concerning 
the Colonies, and the Taxes imposed upon them, considered.' In a Letter ad- 
dressed to the Author of that Pamphlet, by Richard Bland, of Virginia. Dedit 
omnibus Deus pro virili portione sapientiam, ut et inaudita investigare possent 
et audita perpenderc. Lactantius." Williamsburg: printed by Alexander Pur- 
die & Co., MDCCLXVI. 

(549) 



550 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

tills so absolute a right, they must have the lesser right to remove, 
by compact with their sovereign, to a new country, and to form a 
civil establishment upon the terms of the compact. The first 
Virginia charter was granted to Raleigh by Queen Elizabeth, in 
1584, and by it the new country was granted to him, his heirs 
and assigns, in perpetual sovereignty, as fully as the crown could 
grant, with full power of legislation and the establishment of a 
government. The country was to be united to the realm of Eng- 
land in perfect league and amity ; was to be within the allegiance 
of the crown, and to be held by homage and the payment of one- 
fifth of all gold and silver ore. In the thirty-first year of 
Elizabeth's reign, Raleigh assigned the plantation of Virginia to 
a company, who afterwards associating other adventurers with 
them, procured new charters from James the First, in whom 
Raleigh's rights became vested upon his attainder. The charter 
of James was of the same character with that of Elizabeth, with 
an express clause of exemption forever from all taxation or im- 
post upon their imports or exports. Under this charter, and the 
auspices of the company, the colony of Virginia was settled, after 
struggling through immense difficulties, and without receiving the 
least aid from the British government. In 1621 a government 
was established, consisting of a governor, council, and house of 
burgesses, elected by the freeholders. In 1624 James the First 
dissolved the company, and assumed the control of the colony, 
which, upon his demise, devolved upon Charles the First, who, in 
1625, asserted his royal claim of authority over it. To quiet the 
dissatisfaction of the colonists at the loss of their chartered rights, 
the privy council afterwards, in the year 1634, communicated 
the king's assurance that "all their estates and trade, freedom 
and privileges, should be enjoyed by them in as extensive a 
manner as they enjoyed them before the recalling of the com- 
pany's patent." Moreover, Charles the First, in 1644, assured 
the Virginians that they should always be immediately dependent 
upon the crown. After the king's death Virginia displayed her 
loyalty by resisting the parliamentary forces sent out to reduce 
the colony, and by exacting the most honorable terms of sur- 
render. Here the author of "the Inquiry," although exceed- 
ingly well informed in general as to the history of the colony, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 551 

falls into the common error that Charles the Second was proclaimed 
in Virginia some time before he was restored to the throne in 
England. 

Thus Virginia was, as to her internal affairs, a distinct, inde- 
pendent state, but united with the parent state by the closest 
league and amity, and under the same allegiance. If the crown 
had indeed no prerogative to form such a compact, then the royal 
engagements wherein "the freedom and other benefits of the 
British constitution" were secured to them, could not be made 
good ; and a people who are liable to taxation without representa- 
tion, cannot be held to enjoy "the freedom and benefits of the 
British constitution." Even in the arbitrary reign of Charles 
the First, when it was thought necessary to establish a permanent 
revenue for the support of the government in Virginia, the king 
did not apply to the British parliament, but to the assembly of 
Virginia, and sent over an act under the great seal, by which it 
was enacted, "By the king's most excellent majesty, by and with 
the consent of the general assembly," etc. After the restoration, 
indeed, the colonies lost the freedom of trade which they had be- 
fore enjoyed, and the navigation act of 25th Charles the Second 
not only circumscribed the trade of the colonies with foreign 
nations .within very narrow limits, but imposed duties on goods 
manufactured in the colonies and exported from one to another. 
The right to impose these duties was disputed by Virginia; and 
her agents, in April, 1676, procured from Charles the Second a 
declaration, under his privy seal, that "taxes ought not to be 
laid upon the inhabitants and proprietors of the colony but by 
the common consent of the general assembly, except such impo- 
sitions as the parliament should lay on the commodities imported 
into England from the colony." But if no protest had been 
made against the navigation act, that forbearance could in no 
way justify an additional act of injustice. If the people of the 
colonies had in patience endured the oppressions of the English 
commercial restrictions, could that endurance afford any ground 
for new oppressions in the shape of direct taxes? If the people 
of England and of the colonies stood, as was contended, on the 
same foot, being both equally and alike subjects of the British 
government, why was the trade of the colonies subject to restric- 



552 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

tions not imposed on the mother country? If parliament had a 
right to lay taxes of every kind on the colonies, the commerce of 
the colonies ought to be as free as that of England, " otherwise it 
will be loading them with burdens, at the same time that they 
are deprived of strength to sustain them; it will be forcing them 
to make bricks without straw." When colonies are deprived of 
their natural rights, resistance is at once justifiable ; but when de- 
prived of their civil rights, when great oppressions are imposed 
upon them, their remedy is "to lay their complaints at the foot 
of the throne, and to suffer patiently rather than disturb the pub- 
lic peace, which nothing but a denial of justice can excuse them 
in breaking." But a colony "treated with injury and violence 
is become an alien. They were not sent out to be slaves, but to 
be the equals of those that remain behind." It was a great error 
in the supporters of the British ministry to count upon the sec- 
tional jealousies and clashing interests of the colonies. Their 
real interests were the same, and they would not allow minor dif- 
ferences to divide them, when union was become necessary to 
maintain in a constitutional way their rights. How was England 
to prevent this union? Was it by quartering armed soldiers in 
their families? by depriving the colonists of legal trials in the 
courts of common law ? or by harassing them by tax-gatherers, 
and prerogative judges, and inquisitorial courts ? A petty people 
united in the cause of liberty is capable of glorious actions — such 
as adorn the annals of Switzerland and Holland. 

The news of the repeal of the stamp act was joyfully welcomed in 
America, but the joy was premature; for, simultaneously with the 
repeal, parliament had declared that "it had, and of right ought 
to have, power to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever." 
Townshend,* afterwards chancellor of the exchequer, brought 
into parliament a bill to levy duties in the colonies on glass, 
paper, painters' colors, and tea, and it became a law. The duties 
were external, and did not exceed in amount twenty thousand 
pounds; but the colonies suspected the mildness of the measure 
to be only a lure to inveigle them into the net. The new act 
was to take effect in November, 1767. The flame of resistance, 

* 1767. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 553 

smothered for awhile by the repeal of the stamp act, now burst 
forth afresh: associations were everywhere organized to defeat 
the duties ; altercations between the people and the king's officers 
grew frequent; the passions of the conflicting parties were ex- 
asperated. Two British regiments and some armed vessels 
arrived at Boston. 

In Virginia, the assembly, encountering no opposition from the 
mild and patriotic Blair, remonstrated loudly against the new 
oppressions. Opposition to the arbitrary measures of the British 
administration broke forth in England, and in London the fury 
of civil discord shook the pillars of the government. 

Francis Fauquier, lieutenant-governor, died early in 1768, at 
the age of sixty-five years, ten of which he had passed in Vir- 
ginia. He brought with him the frivolous tastes and dissipated 
habits of a man of fashion and a courtier; he was addicted to 
gaming, and by his example diffused a rage for play. He was 
generous and elegant, an accomplished scholar, and, in Mr. Jef- 
ferson's opinion, the ablest of the governors of Virginia. A 
county is named after him. His death devolved the duties of 
government upon John Blair, president of the council. He was 
a nephew of Commissary Blair, whom he had succeeded in the 
council. He had long represented Williamsburg in the house of 
burgesses, having been a member as early as 1736. During the 
trying period of his presidency, his vigilance and discretion were 
displayed in protecting the frontier from Indian invasion.* 

In 1711 some English emigrant Baptists settled in southeast 
Virginia, and in 1743 another party settled in the northwest ; but 
the most important accession came from New England, about the 
period of "the New Light stir." Those who had left the esta- 
blished church were called Separates, the rest Regulars. Their 
preachers, not unfrequently illiterate, were characterized by an 
impassioned manner, vehement gesticulation, and a singular tone 
of voice. The hearers often gave way to tears, trembling, 
screams, and acclamations. The number of converts increased 
rapidly in some counties. The preachers were imprisoned and 

* Hugh Blair Grigsby's Discourse on Convention of 177G, pp. G9, 70; Old 
Churches, i. 100. 



554 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

maltreated by magistrates and mobs; but persecution stimulated 
their zeal and redoubled their influence : they sang hymns while 
on the way to the prison, and addressed crowds congregated be- 
fore the windows of the jails. At this time Deputy-Governor 
Blair addressed the following letter to the king's attorney in 
Spotsylvania : — 

"Sir: — I lately received a letter, signed by a good number of 
worthy gentlemen, who are not here, complaining of the Baptists ; 
the particulars of their misbehavior are not told, any further than 
their running into private houses and making dissensions. Mr. 
Craig and Mr. Benjamin Waller are now with me, and deny the 
charge ; they tell me they are willing to take the oaths as others 
have: I told them I had consulted the attorney-general, who is 
of opinion that the general court only have a right to grant 
licenses, and therefore I referred them to the court ; but on their 
application to the attorney-general,* they brought me his letter, 
advising me to write to you that their petition was a matter of 
right, and that you may not molest these conscientious people, so 
long as they behave themselves in a manner becoming pious 
Christians and in obedience to the laws, till the court, when they 
intend to apply for license, and when the gentlemen who complain 
may make their objections and be heard. The act of toleration 
(it being found by experience that persecuting dissenters increases 
their numbers) has given them a right to apply in a proper 
manner for licensed houses for the worship of God, according to 
their consciences, and I persuade myself the gentlemen will 
quietly overlook their meetings till the court. I am told they 
administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper near the manner 
we do, and differ in nothing from our church but in that of bap- 
tism and their renewing the ancient discipline, by which they 
have reformed some sinners and brought them to be truly peni- 
tent; nay, if a man of theirs is idle and neglects to labor and 
provide for his family as he ought, he incurs their censures, which 
have had good effects. If this be their behavior, it were to be 
wished we had some of it among us ; but at least I hope all may 

* John Randolph. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 555 

remain quiet till the court." This letter was dated at Williams- 
burg, July the 16th, 1768. 

The persecution of the Baptists commenced in Chesterfield, in 
1770, and in no county was it carried farther. According to 
tradition, Colonel Archibald Cary, of Ampthill, was the arch- 
persecutor. In few counties have the Baptists been more 
numerous than in Chesterfield. 

While many of the preachers were men of exemplary character, 
yet by the facility of admission into their pulpits impostors some- 
times brought scandal upon the name of religion. Schisms, too, 
interrupted the harmony of their associations. Nevertheless, by 
the striking earnestness and the pious example of many of them, 
the Baptists gained ground rapidly in Virginia. In their efforts 
to avail themselves of the toleration act, they found Patrick Henry 
ever ready to step forward in their behalf, and he remained 
through life their unwavering friend. They still cherish his 
memory with grateful affection. 

The Baptists, having suffered persecution under the establish- 
ment, were, of all others, the most inimical to it, and the most 
active in its subversion.* 

* Semple's Hist, of Va. Baptists, 16, 24; Hawks, 120. 



CHAPTER LXXL 

17'68-17'7a. 

Botetourt, Governor — Resolutions against the encroachments of Parliament — 
Assembly dissolved — Non-importation Agreement — The Moderates — Assembly 
called — Botetourt's Address — Association — Death of Botetourt — His Character 
— William Nelson, President — Great Fresh — American Episcopate — Assembly 
opposes it — Controversy — Methodists. 

In November, 1768, Norborne Berkeley, Baron tie Botetourt, 
arrived in Virginia as governor-in-chief. The season was delight- 
ful, with its tinted foliage, serene sky, and bracing air. Botetourt, 
just relieved from the confinement of a sea-voyage, was charmed 
with his new place of abode; the palace appeared commodious; 
-the grounds well planted and watered. While his new residence 
was fitting up for him he daily enjoyed the hospitalities of the 
people. He found that while they would never willingly submit 
to be taxed by the mother country, yet they were ardently de- 
sirous of giving assistance, as formerly, upon requisition. In the 
mean time the duties complained of were collected without any 
resistance whatever. Botetourt, solicitous to gratify the Virgi- 
nians, pledged "his life and fortune" to extend the boundary of 
the State on the west to the Tennessee River, on the parallel of 
thirty-six and a half degrees. This boundary, Andrew Lewis and 
Thomas Walker wrote, would give some room to extend the set- 
tlements for ten or twelve years.* 

On the 11th day of May, 1769, when the assembly was con- 
vened, the governor rode from the palace to the capitol in a state- 
coach drawn by six milk-white horses, a present from George the 
Third, and the insignia of royalty were displayed with unusual 
pomp. The pageant, supposed to be intended to dazzle, served 
rather to offend. On that day and the following he entertained 
fifty-two guests at dinner. 

* Bancroft, vi. 228. 

(556) 

V 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 557 

When, in Massachusetts, the custom-house officers had de- 
manded* from the courts writs of assistance for enforcing the re- 
venue act, the eloquent James Otis had resisted the application in 
a speech -which gave a mighty impulse to the popular sentiment. 
The same question was now argued before Botetourt and the 
council, forming the general court, and he concurred in declaring 
them illegal. During this session, Mr. Jefferson made an unsuc- 
cessful effort for the enactment of a law authorizing owners to 
manumit their slaves. 

In February, parliament, refusing to consider a redress of 
American grievances, had advised his majesty to take vigorous 
measures against Massachusetts, and to make inquisition there 
for treason, and, if sufficient ground should appear, to transport 
the accused to England for trial before a special commission; 
and George the Third, a king of exemplary character, but obsti- 
nate temper, heartily concurred in those views. Upon receiving 
intelligence of this fact, the burgesses of Virginia againf passed 
resolutions unanimously, vindicating the rights of the colonies, 
claiming the sole right to levy taxes, and asserting the right of 
bringing about a concert of the colonies in defence against the 
encroachments of parliament ; exposing the injustice and tyranny 
of applying to America an obsolete act of the reign of Henry 
the Eighth, warning the king of the dangers that would ensue if 
any American should be transported to England for trial, and 
finally ordering the resolutions to be communicated to the legis- 
latures of the other colonies, and requesting their concurrence. 
Even the merchants of peaceable Pennsylvania approved these 
resolutions ; Delaware adopted them word for word ; and the co- 
lonies south of Virginia eventually imitated her example. An 
address was also prepared to be laid before the king. Botetourt 
took alarm at what he termed, in his correspondence with the 
government, "the abominable measure," and having convoked 
the assembly, addressed them thus: "Mr. Speaker and Gentle- 
men of the house of burgesses, — I have heard of your resolves, 
and augur ill of their effects. You have made it my duty to dis- 
solve you, and you are dissolved accordingly." 

* 1769. f May 16th. 



558 HISTORY OF THE colony and 

The burgesses immediately repaired in a body to the Raleigh, 
and unanimously adopted a non-importation agreement, drawn by 
George Mason, and presented by George Washington. The 
resolutions included one not to import, or purchase any imported 
slaves, after the first day of November, until the objectionable 
acts of parliament should be repealed. Mr. Mason, not yet a 
member of the assembly, was not present at this meeting. The 
moderate party in the assembly, while they had opposed measures 
which appeared to them injudicious and premature, nevertheless 
avowed themselves as firmly riveted to the main principle in dis- 
pute. Their views, they averred, had been made public in the 
several memorials to government; and from the position so 
assumed they were resolved never to recede. They had not, 
indeed, expected that parliament would ever explicitly acknow- 
ledge itself in the wrong; but it had been their hope that the 
dispute would have been left to rest upon reciprocal protestations, 
and finally have died away. The late measures of the British 
government had extinguished such delusive hopes. That govern- 
ment claimed the right of subjecting America to every act of 
parliament as being part of the British dominions; and at the 
same time that Americans should be liable to punishment under 
an act of Henry the Eighth, made to punish offences committed 
out of the realm. The deportation of Americans for trial, de- 
priving them of the right of trial by a jury of the vicinage, ap- 
peared to be fraught with worse mischiefs than the stamp act, in 
as much as life is more precious than property.* 

On the 9th of May, 1769, the king had, in his speech to par- 
liament, re-echoed their determination to enforce the laws in 
every part of his dominions. Nevertheless, on the thirteenth the 
Earl of Hillsborough, secretary of state for the colonies, wrote 
to Botetourt, assuring him that it was not the intention of minis- 
ters to propose any further taxes, and that they intended to pro- 
pose a repeal of the duties on glass, paper, and paints, not on the 
question of right, but upon the ground that those duties had been 
imposed contrary to the true principles of commerce. Botetourt, 
calling the assembly together, communicated these assurances, 
adding: "It is my firm opinion that the plan I have stated to 

* Letter of R. C. Nicholas to Arthur Lee, S. Lit. Messenger, 1858, p. 184. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 559 

you will certainly take place, and that it will never be departed 
from; and so determined am I to abide by it, that I will be con- 
tent to be declared infamous, if I do not to the last hour of my 
life, at all times, in all places, and upon all occasions, exert every 
power with which I am, or ever shall be, legally invested, in 
order to obtain and maintain for the continent of America, that 
satisfaction which I have been authorized to promise this day by 
the confidential servant of our gracious sovereign, who, to my 
certain knowledge, rates his honor so high that he would rather 
part with his crown than preserve it by deceit." The council, 
in reply, advised the repeal of the existing parliamentary 
taxes; the burgesses expressed their gratitude for "information 
sanctified bv the royal word," and considered the king's influence 
as pledged "toward protecting the happiness of all his people." 
Botetourt, pleased with the address, wished them "freedom and 
happiness till time should be no more." William Lee regarded 
this as mere bombastic rant. During this year appeared a 
pamphlet, asserting the rights of the colonies, entitled "The 
Monitor's Letters," by Arthur Lee. 

Lord North succeeded the Duke of Grafton as prime minister, 
in January, 1770, and in the ensuing March all the duties on the 
American imports were repealed, except that on tea. Lord 
North, at the same time, however, avowed the absolute determi- 
nation of the government not to yield the right of taxing the 
colonies. 

The first association appears not to have been adhered to, and 
the English merchants declared that the exports to Virginia of 
the prohibited articles were never greater. 

On the 22d day of June, 1770, a second association was en- 
tered into at Williamsburg, by the burgesses and the merchants 
of the colony appointing committees, to be chosen by the asso- 
ciators of each county, to enforce the non-importation agreement; 
resolving to promote industry and frugality; enumerating the 
articles not to be imported or purchased after a certain day, 
specially mentioning slaves and wine; engaging not to advance 
the price of goods, wares, and merchandise; binding themselves 
not to import or purchase any article which should be taxed by 
parliament for the purpose of raising a revenue in America. 

The estimable Botetourt died in October, 1770, in his fifty-third 



560 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

year, and after an administration of two years. Promoted to 
the peerage in 1764, he had succeeded Sir Jeffrey Amherst as 
governor-in-chief in 1768, and was the first of that title since 
Lord Culpepper, who had condescended to come over to the 
colony. On his arrival it was his purpose to reduce the Virgi- 
nians to submission, either by persuasion or by force ; but when he 
became better acquainted with the people he changed his views, 
and entreated the ministry to repeal the offensive acts. Such a 
promise was, indeed, held out to him ; but finding himself deceived, 
he demanded his recall, and died shortly afterwards of a bilious 
fever, exacerbated by chagrin and disappointment. He was a 
patron of learning and the arts, giving out of his own purse 
silver and gold medals as prizes to the students of William and 
Mary College. His death was deeply lamented by the colony, 
and the assembly erected a statue in honor of him, which is still 
standing, somewhat mutilated, in front of the college. At his 
death the administration devolved upon William Nelson, president 
of the council. 

In May, 1771, a great fresh occurred in Virginia, the James in 
three days rising twenty feet higher than ever was known before. 
The low grounds were inundated, standing crops destroyed, corn, 
fences, chattels, merchandise, cattle, and houses carried off, and 
ships forced from their moorings. Many of the inhabitants, 
masters and slaves, in endeavoring to rescue property, or to 
escape from danger, were drowned. Houses were seen drifting 
down the current, and people clinging to them, uttering fruitless 
cries for succor. Fertile fields were covered with a thick deposit 
of sand ; islands were torn to pieces, bars accumulated, the chan- 
nel diverted, and the face of nature altered. At Turkey Island, 
on the James River, there is a monument bearing the following 
inscription: "The foundations of this pillar were laid in the 
calamitous year 1771, when all the great rivers of this country 
were swept by inundations never before experienced, which 
changed the face of nature and left traces of their violence that 
will remain for ages." One hundred and fifty persons were 
drowned by this rise in the rivers. 

The assembly met in July, 1771. About this time the ques- 
tion of an American episcopate was agitated ; and in some of the 
Northern colonics the measure was warmly contended for in the 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 561 

public papers. New York and New Jersey desired to secure the 
co-operation of Virginia in petitioning the king on this subject, 
and deputed the Rev. Dr. Cooper, President of King's College, 
New York, and the Rev. Mr. McKean, deputies to visit the 
South in this behalf; and at their urgent solicitation, Commis- 
sary Horrocks, himself aspiring to the mitre, as was supposed, 
called a convocation of the clergy to take the matter into consi- 
deration. Only a few attended; but after some vacillation they 
determined to join in. the petition to the crown, the Rev. John 
Camni taking the lead in this proceeding. Four of the clergy in 
attendance, Henley and Gwatkin, professors in the College of 
William and Mary, and Hewitt and Bland, entered a protest 
against the scheme of introducing a bishop, as endangering the 
very existence of the British empire in America. The assembly 
having expressed its disapprobation of the project, and it being 
urged but by few, and resisted by some of the clergy, it fell to 
the ground ; and the thanks of the house were presented, through 
Richard Henry Lee and Richard Bland, to the protesting clergy- 
men for their "wise and well-timed opposition." Churchmen 
naturally sided with the English government, and the bench of 
bishops were arrayed in opposition to the rights of the colonies. 
The protest of the four ministers gave rise to a controversy 
between them and the United Episcopal Conventions of New 
York and New Jersey ; and a war of pamphlets and newspapers 
ensued in the Northern and Middle States; and the stamp act 
itself, according to some writers, did not evoke more bitter de- 
nunciations, nor more violent threats, than the project of an 
episcopate : New England was in a flame against it. It was be- 
lieved, that if bishops should be sent over they would unite with 
the governors in opposition to the rights of America. The laity 
of the Episcopal Church in America were, excepting a small 
minority, opposed to the measure. Neither the people of Virgi- 
nia, nor any of the American colonies, were at any time willing 
to receive a bishop appointed by the English government. 
Among the advocates of the scheme the Rev. Jonathan Boucher 
took a prominent part, and he sustained it ably from the pulpit. 
He held that the refusal of Virginia to consent to the appoint- 
ment of a bishop, was "to unchurch the church;" and his views 

36 



562 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

on this subject were re-echoed by Lowth, Bishop of Oxford, in 
an anniversary sermon delivered before the Society for the Pro- 
pagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. On this point of eccle- 
siastical government the members of the establishment in Virginia 
appear to have been looked upon as themselves dissenters. In one 
sense they were so ; but their repugnance was to prelacy, not to the 
episcopate ; a prelatical bishop was in their minds associated with 
ideas of expense beyond their means, and of opposition to tho 
principles of civil liberty. Boucher, in a sermon that he 
preached in this year at St. Mary's Church, in Caroline County, 
of which he was then rector, says of the dissenters in Virginia: 
"I might almost as well pretend to count the gnats that buzz 
around us in a summer's evening." 

The scheme of sending over a bishop had been entertained 
more than a hundred years before ; and Dean Swift at one time 
entertained hopes of being made Bishop of Virginia, with power, 
as is said, to ordain priests and deacons for all the colonies, and 
to parcel them out into deaneries, parishes, chapels, etc., and to 
recommend and present thereto. The favorite sermons of many 
of the Virginia clergy were Sterne's.* 

During this year died the Rev. James Horrocks, President of 
the College and Commissary. He had been at the head of William 
and Mary since the death of Rev. William Yates, in 1764. Mr. 
Horrocks was succeeded in both places by the Rev. John Camm. 

John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, was transferred"]" from the 
government of New York to that of Virginia. The town of 
Fincastle, the title of one of his sons, in Botetourt County, was 
now incorporated. The Honorable William Nelson, president, 
died in this year. About this time the Methodists appeared in 
Virginia; they still avowed that attachment to the Church of 
England which Wesley and Whitefield both, in the early years of 
their career, had uniformly professed. Although they allowed 
laymen to preach, the communion was received by them at the 
hands of the clergy only; and they even affirmed that "whoso- 
ever left the church left the Methodists." They, therefore, now 
were visited with a share of the odium which fell upon the 
established church. 

* Old Churches, i. 25. f 1772. 



CHAPTER LXXII. 

THE REV. DEVEREUX JARRATT. 

The Rev. Devereux Jarratt was born in the County of 
New Kent, Virginia, in January, 1733, of obscure parentage. 
His grandfather, an Englishman, had served during the civil 
wars under Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, and hence probably 
was derived the Christian name of the grandson. His grand- 
mother was a native of Ireland. His father was a carpenter, and 
from the manner in which he and his family lived, some idea may 
be formed of the condition of the common people in that day. 
Their food consisted of the produce of the soil, except a little 
sugar, which was used only on rare occasions. Their clothes 
were all of maternal manufacture, except hats and shoes, and 
these last were worn only in the winter. They not only used no 
tea or coffee themselves, but they knew no family that did use 
them. Meat and bread and milk constituted the diet of that 
class. They looked upon the gentry as a superior caste. Jar- 
ratt, in his autobiography, describing his early days, says: "For 
my part, I was quite shy of them, and kept off at an humble dis- 
tance. A periwig in those days was a distinguishing badge of 
gentle-folk, and when I saw a man riding the road near our 
house with a wig on, it would so alarm my fears and give me 
such a disagreeable feeling, that I dare say I would run off as 
for my life." He lived to see society reduced to the opposite, and, 
in his opinion, worse extreme of republican levelling, insubordi- 
nation, and irreverence. His early education was confined to 
reading, writing, and elementary arithmetic, some short prayers, 
and the church catechism. Upon his father's death, Robert, the 
eldest son, inherited the land, and Devereux's share of the per- 
sonal property was twenty-five pounds, Virginia currency, which 
he was to receive when he should reach the age of twenty-one. 
The relative value of money was four times greater then than 

(563) 



564 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

it was fifty years afterwards. A good horse could be bought for 
five pounds, and a good cow and calf for a pistole, or three dol- 
lars and sixty cents. At eight or nine years of age young Jar- 
ratt was sent to school, and so continued, with great interruptions, 
for three or four years. By this time he had learned to read the 
Bible indifferently, to write a sorry hand, and had acquired some 
knowledge of arithmetic, and this closed his educational curricu- 
lum. Being placed now under the guardianship of his elder 
brother, his employments for some years were threefold: 1st, 
taking care of and training race-horses ; 2d, taking care of game- 
cocks and preparing them for a match and main; 3d, ploughing, 
harrowing, and other plantation work. At the age of seventeen 
he undertook the business of a carpenter, under another brother, 
who often had recourse to "hard words and severe blows," which 
he "did not at all relish;" but he continued to labor in this way 
until about 1750. During the five or six years while he lived 
with his brothers, he never heard or saw anything of a religious 
nature, nor did he go to the parish church once a year. The 
parish minister was a poor preacher, very near-sighted, and, read- 
ing his sermons closely, he kept his eyes fixed on the paper, and 
so near that what he said "seemed rather addressed to the 
cushion than to the congregation." This parson was rarely ob- 
served to stand erect and face the audience, except when he de- 
nounced some individual in the congregation with whom he hap- 
pened to have a quarrel. Cards, dancing, racing, etc., were then 
the favorite pastimes, and young Jarratt participated in them as 
far as his leisure and circumstances would permit, arid this as 
well on Sundays as on other days. Not being content with his 
stock of learning, and skill in arithmetic being the chief desidera- 
tum among the common people, he borrowed a book, and while 
his plough-horse was grazing at noon applied himself to that 
study, and made rapid progress. He felt conscious at this time 
that the plough and the axe were not his element ; and his skill 
in the division of crops, in the rule of three, and in practice, soon 
became so widely known that he was, unexpectedly, when at the 
age of nineteen, invited to set up a school in Albemarle County, 
one hundred miles distant from New Kent. His baggage appears 
to have constituted no considerable impediment to his journey, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 565 

for he says: "I think I carried the whole on my back except 
one shirt." His entire wardrobe at this time consisted of a pair 
of coarse breeches, one or two Oznaburg shirts, a pair of shoes 
and stockings, an old felt hat, and a bear-skin coat, the first gar- 
ment of that kind that had ever been made for him. To improve 
the gentility of his appearance he put on a cast-off wig, which he 
procured from a servant. On setting out for Albemarle, young 
Jarratt had not a farthing of money, and never had been master 
of as much as five shillings cash. The income of the school scarce 
afforded him clothing of the coarsest kind, but he gained the con- 
fidence of his employer, who was an overseer for a lowland gen- 
tleman, so far, that he trusted him with "as much checks as made 
him two new shirts." Albemarle was then a frontier county; 
there was no minister or public worship within many miles, and 
the Sabbath was spent in sports and amusements. Here he met 
with Whitefield's Eight Sermons, delivered at Glasgow, the first 
book of sermons that he ever saw. Jarratt went next to live with 
a wealthy gentleman, whose wife was a pious Presbyterian, spoken 
of as a New Light. It was while he was under Presbyterian in- 
fluences that his conversion took place. When upwards of 
twenty-five years old he commenced the study of Latin under 
Alexander Martin, sent from Princeton College, a private tutor 
in the family of a gentleman in Cumberland. Martin was after- 
wards governor of North Carolina. Mr. Jarratt intended to be- 
come a Presbyterian minister, but in 1762 changed his mind, and 
began to prepare to take orders in the established church. Upon 
a further acquaintance with the subject his prejudices against that 
church and its liturgy were removed, and he came to be of opinion 
that the Prayer Book contained, at the least, as good a system 
of doctrine and public worship as the Presbyterian ; the doctrinal 
articles he considered the same, in substance, in both churches, 
and the different modes of worship he held to be not essential. 
His mind hung in equilibrium between the Church of England 
and the Presbyterian Church as regarded their theory, and 
balancing the secular advantages, he decided in favor of the esta- 
blished church, mainly because "he saw the Presbyterian minis- 
ters dependent on annual subscriptions — a mode of support very 
precarious in itself, and which subjects the minister to the caprice 



566 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

of so many people, and tends to bind his hands and hinder his 
usefulness." To this he adds: "The general prejudice of the 
people at that time against dissenters and in favor of the church, 
gave me a full persuasion that I could do more good in the 
church than anywhere else." The fact is, however, that at that 
time the popular feeling was growing less friendly to the clergy 
of the established church and more friendly to dissenters. Em- 
barking for England, in October, 1762, and being ordained deacon 
by the Bishop of London, and priest by the Bishop of Chester, 
he preached several times in London, and was "suspected of 
being a Methodist." While in that city he heard Whitefield and 
Wesley. He returned to Virginia in July. Shortly afterwards 
he was received as minister of Bath Parish, in Dinwiddie, he 
being then in his thirty-first year. He found his people as igno- 
rant of true religion as if they had never frequented a church or 
heard a sermon. As regarded other Episcopal clergymen, he 
did not know of one in Virginia like-minded with himself. He 
was indeed opposed and reproached by them as a fanatic, a dis- 
senter, a Presbyterian. His preaching, although at first unac- 
ceptable, proved, ere long, eifective, and crowded congregations 
attended his ministrations. The interest extending widely be- 
yond his parish, he spent part of his time in itinerant preaching, 
going several hundred miles and in every direction. The clergy 
in general being unwilling to open their churches for him, and 
they being not large enough to contain the crowds which he at- 
tracted, he was in the habit of preaching in the open air, under 
trees, arbors, or booths, and he had the advantage of a voice 
which was audible to his large congregations. The clergy fre- 
quently threatened him with writs and prosecutions for the viola- 
tion of canonical order, but he retorted upon them successfully, 
and maintained his ground. At length he met with sympathy 
and co-operation from the Rev. Mr. McRoberts, and an intimacy 
continued between them for many years. But as Mr. Jarratt, 
who was at first in effect a Presbyterian, became a minister of 
the established church, so eventually, many years afterwards, 
during the revolutionary war, his friend and coadjutor, Mr. 
McRoberts, became a Presbyterian minister. Their friendship 
remained uninterrupted. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 567 

About the year 1769 the increase of the number of Baptists 
produced some divisions among Mr. Jarratt's people. The Me- 
thodists appearing in Virginia about the same time, and profess- 
ing to be virtually members of the Church of England, Mr. 
Jarratt (in order to resist the encroachments of the Baptists) co- 
operated with them in building up their societies ; but he found 
reason subsequently to repent of this step, and although often 
styled a Methodist himself, yet he finally broke oif entirely from 
that denomination.* 



* Life of Rev. Devereux Jarratt, 5, 107. His sermons were published in 
several volumes 



CHAPTER LXXIII. 



l?"r3-17V4. 



Duty on Tea — Dunmore, Governor — Proceedings of Assembly — Private Meeting 
of Patriots — Committees of Correspondence — Washington — Dunmore visits 
the Frontier. 

In the year 1770, all the duties on articles imported into 
America having been repealed, save that on tea, the American 
merchants refused to import that commodity from England. 
Consequently a large stock of it wag accumulated in the ware- 
houses of the East India Company; and the government in 
1773 authorized the company to ship it to America free from any 
export duty. The light import duty payable in America being 
far less than that from which it was exempted in England, it was 
taken for granted that it would sell more readily in the' colony 
than before it had been made a subject of taxation. It was, 
indeed, by some looked upon as now rather a question of com- 
merce than of taxation; the main object of the British govern- 
ment appears to have been to put an end to the trade between 
the colonies and Holland, (a trade contraband according to the 
letter of the law, but the law had been practically long obsolete,) 
and to give to the East India Company a monopoly of the colo- 
nial markets. But it was in general regarded in America as a 
test question of revenue. 

The tea-ships arrived in America, and measures were taken to 
prevent the landing of the tea; at Boston several cargoes were 
thrown overboard in the night of December the eighteenth, into 
the sea, by a party of men disguised as Indians, acting under the 
advice of Samuel Adams, and other leading patriots. Other 
colonies either compelled the masters of the tea-ships to return 
with their cargoes, or excluded them from sale; and thus not a 
chest of it was sold for the benefit of the company. Tea had 
hitherto been imported by Pennsylvania, New York, and Massa- 
f568) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 569 

cliusetts into the colonies to the value of three hundred thousand 
pounds annually from Holland and her dependencies. In Virgi- 
nia the use of this beverage was now generally abandoned.* 

Intelligence of the occurrences at Boston having reached Eng- 
land, parliament ordered the port of that town to be closed on 
the fourth day of June ; and other strong measures were adopted 
in order to reduce Massachusetts to submission. The colonies, 
like the captives in the cave of Polyphemus, were conscious of 
being involved in a common danger; and that if one should fall 
a victim, the destruction of the rest would be only a question of 
time. 

When John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, the newly-appointed 
governor of Virginia, reached Williamsburg, early in 1772, he 
found that he had already incurred suspicion on account of the 
appointment of Captain Foy as his clerk, or private secretary, 
with a salary of five hundred pounds, to be derived from new- 
created fees. Foy had distinguished himself at the battle of 
Minden, and had been afterwards governor of New Hampshire. 
Dunmore summoned the assembly which met in February; and 
his apparent haughtiness at the first rather heightened the preju- 
dice against him. He, however, relinquished the objectionable 
fees, and thus conciliated so good a feeling that the assembly 
expressed their gratitude in warm and affectionate terms. Some 
important acts were passed during this session, including several 
for the promotion of internal improvement — for improving the 
navigation of the Potomac; for making a road from the Warm 
Spring to Jenning's Gap; for clearing the Matapony; for cir- 
cumventing the falls of James River by a canal from Westham; 
and for cutting a canal across from Archer's Hope Creek to 
Queen's Creek, through Williamsburg, to connect the James 
River with the York. The Counties of Berkley and Dunmore 
were carved out from Frederick, f 

The assembly was prorogued to the tenth of June. Dunmore, 

* Some of the loyal ladies adhered to the use of it. The wife of Bernard 
Moore, of Chelsea, in King William, daughter of a British governor, Spotswood, 
according to family tradition, continued to sip her tea in her closet after it was 
banished from the table. 

| The name of Dunmore was, in 1777, changed to Shenandoah. 



570 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

notwithstanding his recent complaisance, evinced his distaste for 
assemblies by proroguing them from time to time, until at length 
a forgery of the paper-currency of the colony compelled him to 
call the legislature together again, by proclamation, March 4th, 
1773 — the thirteenth year of the reign of George the Third. 
His lordship's measures in apprehending the counterfeiters had 
been more energetic than legal, and the assembly, not diverted 
by their care for the treasury from a regard to personal rights, 
requested that his proceedings might not be drawn into a precedent. 

The horizon was again darkened by gathering clouds. A 
British armed revenue vessel having been burnt in Narraganset 
Bay, an act of parliament was passed making such offences 
punishable by death, and authorizing the accused to be trans- 
ported to England for trial. Virginia had already, in 1769, re- 
monstrated against this last measure. The conservatives, the 
statu quo party in the assembly, as usual, differed with the 
movement party as to the proper measure to be adopted. Patrick 
Henry, Mr. Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, Francis L. Lee, 
Dabney Carr, and perhaps one or two others were at this gloomy 
period in the habit of meeting together in the evening in a pri- 
vate room of the Raleigh, to consult on the state of affairs. In 
conformity with their agreement, Dabney Carr, on the twelfth 
of March, moved a series of resolutions, recommending a com- 
mittee of correspondence, and instructing them to inquire in 
regard to the newly-constituted court in Rhode Island. 
Richard Henry Lee and Patrick Henry made speeches of me- 
morable eloquence on this occasion. Mr. Lee was the author 
of the plan of intercolonial committees of correspondence; 
and Virginia was the first colony that adopted it. The reso- 
lutions passed without opposition, and Dunmore immediately 
dissolved the house. These resolutions "struck a greater panic 
into the ministers" than anything that had taken place since the 
passage of the stamp act.* 

The committee of correspondence appointed were Peyton Ran- 
dolph, Robert C. Nicholas, Richard Bland, Richard Henry Lee, 
Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry, Dudley 

* MS. letter of William Lee, dated at London, January 1st, 1774. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 571 

Digges, Dabney Carr, Archibald Cary, and Thomas Jefferson. 
On the day after the dissolution, this committee addressed a cir- 
cular to the other colonies. Robert Carter Nicholas published, 
during this year, a pamphlet in defence of colonial rights. 

Dabney Carr, although young, was, according to Mr. Jefferson, 
a formidable rival at the bar to Patrick Henry, and promised to 
become a distinguished statesman; but he died shortly after, in 
the thirtieth year of his age, greatly lamented. The judge of the 
same name was his son. Washington was a member of this 
assembly, and supported the patriotic measures, perhaps, however, 
as yet little dreaming that the colonies were on the verge of revo- 
lution and war. He was still on friendly terms with Governor 
Dunmore, who appreciated his abilities and character. He, 
indeed, intended about this time, in compliance with the gover- 
nor's invitation, to accompany him in a tour of observation to the 
western frontier of Virginia, where both of them had an interest 
in lands ; but this was prevented by the illness and death of Miss 
Custis, the daughter of Mrs. Washington by a former marriage. 

Dunmore visited the frontier and remained some time at Pitts- 
burg, and endeavored, by the help of Dr. Conolly, to extend the 
bounds of Virginia in that quarter; and this was attributed to a 
design to foment a quarrel between Virginia and Pennsylvania; 
but the suspicion was probably without sufficient foundation. 



CHAPTER LXXIV. 



Lady Dunmore and Children — Gayety of AVilliamsburg — Boston Port Bill — Fast- 
day appointed — Governor dissolves the Assembly — Resolutions of Burgesses — 
Convention called — The Raleigh — Mason's Opinion of Henry — Patriotic Mea- 
sures — Convention — Jefferson's "Summary View." 

Late in April there arrived at the palace in Williamsburg, 
the Right Honorable the Countess of Dunmore, with George, 
Lord Fincastle, the Honorable Alexander and John Murray, and 
the Ladies Catherine, Augusta, and Susan Murray, accompanied 
by Captain Foy and his lady. On this occasion there was an 
illumination, and the people with acclamations welcomed her lady- 
ship and family to Virginia. The three sons of Lord Dunmore 
were students in the College of William and Mary in that year. 

When the assembly met in May, Williamsburg presented a scene 
of unwonted gayety, and a court-herald published a code of 
etiquette for the regulation of the society of the little metropolis. 
Washington, arriving there on the sixteenth, dined with Lord 
Dunmore. At the beginning of the session the burgesses made 
an address congratulating the governor on the arrival of his 
lady, and the members agreed to give a ball in her honor on the 
twenty-seventh; but the sky was again suddenly overcast by in- 
telligence of the act of parliament shutting up the port of Boston. 
The assembly made an indignant protest against this act, and,* 
imitating the example of the Puritans in the civil wars of Eng- 
land, set apart the first of June, appointed for closing the port, 
as a day of fasting, prayer, and humiliation, in which the Divine 
interposition was to be implored to protect the rights of the colo- 
nies, and avert the horrors of civil war, and to unite the peoplo 
of America in the common cause. 

On the next day Dunmore, summoning the burgesses to attend 

* May twenty-fourth. 

(572) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 573 

him in the council chamber, dissolved them in the following 
■words: "Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the house of burgesses, 
I have in my hand a paper published by order of your house, 
conceived in such terms as reflect highly upon his majesty and 
the parliament of Great Britain, which makes it necessary for 
me to dissolve you, and you are dissolved accordingly." 

The burgesses repaired immediately to the Raleigh,* and in the 
room called "the Apollo" adopted resolutions against the use of 
tea and other East India commodities, and recommended the 
annual convening of a congress. In this measure, as in the 
appointment of committees of correspondence, Virginia took the 
lead. North Carolina promptly followed her example. Not- 
withstanding the untoward turn of events, Washington dined 
with the governor on the twenty-fifth, and passed the evening 
with him, rode with him to his farm, and breakfasted there on 
the following day, and attended the ball given on the twenty- 
seventh in honor of Lady Dunmore. 

Further news being received from Boston, the members who 
remained in Williamsburg held a meeting on the twenty-ninth, at 
which Peyton Randolph presided, and they issued a circular, 
recommending a meeting of deputies in a convention to assemble 
there on the first of August. 

A dissolution of the assembly had been expected, but it had 
been supposed that it would be deferred until the public business 
should be despatched — toward the latter part of June. Consult- 
ations and measures for the preservation of the public rights and 
liberties were conducted and matured very privately, and by very 
few members, of whom Patrick Henry was the leader. George 
Mason, who arrived in Williamsburg in the latter part of May, 
says, in a letter to a friend: "At the request of the gentlemen 
concerned, I have spent an evening with them upon the subject, 
where I had an opportunity of conversing with Mr. Henry and 
knowing his sentiments, as well as hearing him speak in the 



* The Raleigh tavern, a wooden house, is upwards of a hundred years old. 
There was formerly a bust of Sir Walter Raleigh in front of the house. The 
ball-room in the Raleigh was styled "The Apollo." There was a tavern in 
London called "The Apollo" in 1690. 



574 HISTORY OP THE COLONY AND 

house since on different occasions. He is by far the most power- 
ful speaker I ever heard. Every word he says not only engages, 
but commands the attention, and your passions are no longer 
your own when he addresses them. But his eloquence is the 
least part of his merit. He is, in my opinion, the first man upon 
this continent as well in abilities as public virtues, and had he 
lived in Rome about the time of the first Punic war, when the 
Roman people had arrived at their meridian glory, and their vir- 
tue not tarnished, Mr. Henry's talents must have put him at the 
head of that glorious commonwealth." 

Mr. Mason found the minds of all at Williamsburg entirely 
absorbed in the news from Massachusetts. The burgesses, at 
their own expense, sent to their counties copies of the resolution 
adopted against the Boston port bill, in order that it should be 
ratified by the people. Mr. Mason, as other members probably 
did, directed that his elder children should attend church on the 
day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, in mourning. The first 
of June was observed as set apart by the house of burgesses. 
The same day being the time fixed for the discontinuance of the 
use of tea, the ladies, before that day, sealed up their stock, with 
a determination not to use it until the duty should be repealed, 
and resolutions of sympathy and encouragement, and contribu- 
tions of money and provisions, were sent from Virginia for the 
relief of "our distressed fellow-subjects of Boston." 

In the midst of these excitements John Page, of Rosewell, was 
elected president of the Society for the Advancement of Useful 
Knowledge. 

In the latter part of June, Washington presided as moderator 
at a meeting held in his own county, Fairfax, and he was made 
chairman of a committee appointed to draught resolutions on the 
alarming state of public affairs, to be reported at a future meet- 
ing. He about this time warmly supported the patriotic mea- 
sures, in a correspondence with his neighbor and friend, Bryan 
Fairfax, who adhered to the Anglican side in the dispute. On 
the twenty-fourth of August he wrote to him: "I could wish, I 
own, that the dispute had been left to posterity to determine ; but 
the crisis is arrived when we must assert our rights, or submit to 
every imposition that can be heaped upon us, till custom and use 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 575 

will make us as tame and abject slaves as the blacks we rule over 
with such arbitrary sway." 

The Fairfax committee framed resolutions, intimating that a 
persistence of the government in its measures of coercion would 
result of necessity only in a resort to the arbitrament of arms. 
These resolutions were adopted by a county meeting held on the 
eighteenth of July, and Washington was elected a delegate to 
the convention which was about to convene. This body met on 
the first day of August, (although Dunmore had issued writs for 
a new assembly,) its object being to consider the state and condi- 
tion of the colony, and to appoint delegates to congress. A new 
and more thorough non-importation association was organized. 
Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, Washington, Henry, 
Bland, Benjamin Harrison, Jr., of Berkley, and Pendleton, were 
appointed* delegates to congress. Patrick Henry and Richard 
Henry Lee were listened to with delight, and Washington said, 
"I will raise one thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, 
and march myself at their head for the relief of Boston. "f 

Mr. Jefferson was elected a member of this convention, but 
was prevented from attending by the state of his health. In 
the interval before the meeting he prepared instructions for 
the Virginia delegates in congress, in which he assumed the 
ground that the British parliament had no right whatever to ex- 
ercise any authority over the colony of Virginia. These instruc- 
tions being communicated through the president of the convention, 
Peyton Randolph, were generally read and approved of by many, 
though considered too bold for the present. But they printed 
them in a pamphlet, under the title of " A Summary View of the 
Rights of British America."! The following excerpts are taken 
from it: "History has informed us that bodies of men as well 
as individuals are susceptible of the spirit of tyranny." " Scarcely 
have our minds been able to emerge from the astonishment into 
which one stroke of parliamentary thunder has involved us before 
another more heavy and more alarming is fallen on us." "The 

* August eleventh. f Life and Works of John Adams, ii. 360. 

X To be found in Amer. Archives, published by Congress, fourth series, i. 690, 
and in the Congress edition of Mr. Jefferson's works. See also Memoir and 
Correspondence of Jefferson, 100, 116. 



57G ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

great principles of right and wrong are legible to every reader; 
to pursue them requires not the aid of many counsellors. The 
whole art of government consists in the art of being honest ; only 
aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you 
fail. No longer persevere in sacrificing the rights of one part 
of the empire to the inordinate desires of another, but deal out to 
all equal and impartial right. Let no act be passed by any one 
legislature which may infringe on the rights and liberties of 
another." "Accept of every commercial preference it is in our 
power to give for such things as we can raise for their use, or they 
make for ours. But let them not think to exclude us from going 
to other markets to dispose of those commodities which they can- 
not use, or to supply those wants which they cannot supply." 

On the subject of slavery Mr.. Jefferson used the following lan- 
guage: "The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object of 
desire in these colonies, where it was unhappily introduced in 
their infant state. But previous to the enfranchisement of the 
slaves we have, it is necessary to exclude all further importations 
from Africa, yet our repeated attempts to effect this, by prohibi- 
tions, and by imposing duties which might amount to a prohibition, 
have been hitherto defeated by his majesty's negative; thus pre- 
ferring the immediate advantage of a few British corsairs to the 
lasting interests of the American States and to the rights of 
human nature deeply wounded by this infamous practice." 

In consonance with these opinions, the convention adopted the 
following resolution: "After the first day of November next we 
will neither ourselves import, nor purchase any slave or slaves 
imported by any other person, either from Africa, the West 
Indies, or any other place." 

Mr. Jefferson's pamphlet displays a thorough knowledge of the 
history and constitutional rights of the colony; it breathes a 
fiery spirit of defiance and revolution, and the rhythmical splendor 
of elevated declamation in some of its passages is hardly inferior 
to Junius. If some of its statements and views are extravagant 
or erroneous, yet it is bold, acute, comprehensive, luminous, and 
impressive. This pamphlet, it is said, found its way to England, 
was taken hold of by the opposition, interpolated a little by Ed- 
mund Burke, so as to make it answer opposition purposes, and 
in that form it ran through several editions. 



CHAPTER LXXV. 

Richard Henry Lee — Congress at Philadelphia — Henry — Proceedings of Con- 
gress — Washington — Military Spirit in Virginia. 

Richard Henry Lee was born at Stratford, on the Potomac, 
January 20th, 1732, his father being Thomas Lee, and his 
mother, Hannah, daughter of Colonel Ludwell, of Greenspring, 
near Jamestown. Richard, second son of Richard Lee, was of the 
council, and an adherent of Sir William Berkley ; and Thomas 
Lee, third son, was some time president of the council. He was 
one of the majority of that body who persecuted the dissenters. 
Richard Henry Lee's maternal relations were conspicuous for 
their wealth, influence, and public stations. Colonel Ludwell, 
the father of Mrs. Lee, was of the council, as also was a son of 
his. Her grandfather was a collector of the customs, (having suc- 
ceeded in that office Giles Bland, who was executed during Bacon's 
rebellion,) and afterwards governor of North Carolina. The Lud- 
wells were staunch supporters of Sir William Berkley and the 
Stuart dynasty. Richard Henry Lee's mother, one of the high- 
toned aristocracy of the colony, confined her care chiefly to her 
daughters and her eldest son, and left her younger sons pretty 
much to shift for themselves. After a course of private tuition in 
his father's house, Richard Henry was sent to Wakefield Academy, 
Yorkshire, England, where he distinguished himself by his profi- 
ciency in his studies, particularly in the Latin and Greek. Having 
completed his course at this school, he travelled through England, 
and visited London. He returned when about nineteen years of 
age to his native country, two years after his father's death, 
which occurred in 1750. Young Lee's patrimony rendering it 
unnecessary for him to devote himself to a profession, lie now 
passed a life of ease, but not of idleness; for he indulged his 
taste for letters, and diligently stored his mind with knowledge. 
In 1755, being chosen captain of a company of volunteers raised 

37 (577) 



578 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

in Westmoreland, he marched with them to Alexandria, and 
offered their services to General Braddock ; but the offer was de- 
clined. In his twenty-fifth year Mr. Lee was appointed a justice 
of the peace, and shortly afterwards elected a burgess for his 
county. Naturally diffident, and finding himself surrounded by 
able men, for one or two sessions he took no part in the debates. 
One of his early efforts was in support of a resolution "to lay 
so heavy a tax on the importation of slaves as effectually to put 
an end to that iniquitous and disgraceful trafnck within the colony 
of Virginia." On this question he argued against the institution 
of slavery as a portentous evil, moral and political.* When the 
defalcations of Treasurer Robinson came to be suspected, Mr. 
Lee insisted with firmness, in the face of a proud and embittered 
opposition, on an investigation of the treasury. In November, 
1764, when the stamp act was first heard of in America, Mr. 
Lee, at the instance of a friend, wrote to England, making ap- 
plication for a collector's office under that act. He alleged that 
at that time neither he, nor, as he believed, his countrymen, had 
duly reflected on the real nature of that act. Observing soon, 
however, the growing dissatisfaction with that measure, and be- 
stowing more deliberate reflection upon it, he became convinced 
of its pernicious character, and of the impropriety of his appli- 
cation; and from that time he became one of the most strenuous 
opponents of the stamp act. In the year 1766 he brought to the 
consideration of the assembly the act of parliament claiming a 
right to tax America; and he draughted the address to the king, 
and the memorial to the commons. His accomplishments, learn- 
ing, courtesy, patriotism, republican principles, decision of cha- 
racter and eloquence, commanded the attention of the legislature. 
Although a member at the time of the introduction of Henry's 
resolutions, in 1765, Mr. Lee happened not to be present at the 
discussion; but he heartily concurred in their adoption. Shortly 
afterwards he organized an association in furtherance of them in 
Westmoreland. He vigorously opposed the act laying a duty on 
tea, and that for quartering British troops in the colonies. He 
was now residing at Chantilly, his seat on the Potomac, a few 

* Life of Richard Henry Lee, 17. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 579 

miles below Stratford, in Westmoreland. The house at Chantilly 
is no longer standing. On the 25th of July, 1768, in a letter to 
John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lee suggested "that not 
only select committees should be appointed by all the colonies, 
but that a private correspondence should be conducted between 
the lovers of liberty in every province." In the year 1773 the 
Virginia assembly, at the suggestion of Mr. Lee, appointed the 
first committee of intercolonial correspondence, consisting of six 
members, of whom he was one. 

Washington was joined at Mount Vernon by Henry and Pen- 
dleton, and they proceeded together to Philadelphia. Here the 
old Continental Congress, consisting of fifty-five delegates, re- 
presenting all the colonies except Georgia, assembled on the 5th 
day of September, 1774.* 

Upon the motion of Mr. Lynch, of South Carolina, Peyton 
Randolph, of Virginia, was unanimously elected president, and 
Charles Thomson, secretary. At the opening of the session, on 
the second day, the prolonged silence was at length broken by 
Patrick Henry. Reciting the grievances of the colonies, he de- 
clared that all government was dissolved, and that they were 
reduced to a state of nature ; that the congress which he was ad- 
dressing was the first in a perpetual series of congresses. A few 
sentences roughly jotted down in John Adams' diaryf are all 
that survive of this celebrated speech. 

Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee towered supereminent 
in debate; yet it soon came to be remarked that in composition 
and the routine of actual business they were surpassed by many.J 
But "the egotism of human nature will seldom allow us to credit 
a man for one excellence, without detracting from him in other 
respects ; if he has genius, we imagine he has not common sense ; 



* Carpenter's Hall, instituted in 1721 by the Company of Carpenters, is in a 
court a little back from Chestnut Street. There is in the Hall the following 
inscription : "Within these walls Henry, Hancock, and Adams inspired the dele- 
gates of the colonies with nerve and sinew for the toils of war resulting in our 
national independence." Two high-backed arm-chairs are preserved, marked 
"Continental Congress, 1774." 

j- See his Life and Works, ii. 3GG. 

J Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry. 



580 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

if he is a poet, we suppose that he is not a logician."* It has 
been seen that George Mason considered Henry "the first man 
on this continent in ability as in public virtues." A great man 
only can adequately appreciate a great man. Henry was capa- 
ble of being no less efficient in the committee-room than on the 
floor of debate. f There was no test of intellectual excellence 
too severe for him. The state-papers of Richard Henry Lee are 
sufficient proofs of his capacity. 

The proceedings were conducted in secret session. Intelligence 
which was received from Boston riveted more closely the union 
of the North and South; minor differences were lost sight of in 
view of the portentous common danger. The congress made a 
declaration of rights. Dickinson composed the petition to the 
king, and the address to the inhabitants of Quebec; Jay an 
address to the people of Great Britain; and Richard Henry 
Lee a memorial to the inhabitants of the British colonies. 
The congress, after a session of fifty-one days, adjourned in 
October. 

Mr. Henry, on his return home, being asked, "Who is the 
greatest man in congress ?" replied, "If you speak of eloquence, 
Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, is by far the greatest orator; 
but if you speak of solid information and sound judgment, Colo- 
nel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man on that floor." 
John Adams, the eloquent and indomitable advocate of inde- 
pendence, mentions Lee, Henry, and Hooper as the orators of 
that body. Washington, in a letter addressed to Captain Mac- 
kenzie, who had formerly served under him, and was now among 
the British troops at Boston, gave it as his opinion, that it was 
neither the wish nor the interest of Massachusetts, nor of any of 
the colonies, to set up for independence ; yet they never would 
submit to the loss of their constitutional rights. The same opi- 
nion was avowed by Jefferson, Franklin, and other leading men ; 
yet there was undoubtedly then, and long had been, a strong un- 
dercurrent, a heavy ground-swell in the direction of independence, 
it being evident that England would never restore the colonies to 
their condition previous to 1763. A declaration of war is usually 

* Lord Brougham, f Grigsby's Va. Convention of 1776, p. 150. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 581 

preceded by a hypothetical denial of hostile designs : it is the lull 
whose mysterious silence heralds in the approaching storm. 

Patrick Henry stood foremost among the statesmen of Virginia, 
from the beginning of the contest, in favor of independence; he 
was on this point ten years in advance of them;* standing out 
in bold relief the prominent and pre-eminent figure on the can- 
vas. Samuel Adams, in Massachusetts, was a patriot of the same 
stamp. 

The danger of an outbreak of hostilities between the people of 
Boston and the British troops growing daily more imminent, the 
spirit of warlike preparation, by a sort of contagion, pervaded 
the colonies. It had long been a custom in Virginia to form 
independent military companies; and several of these now soli- 
cited Colonel Washington to review them and take command; 
and he consented; and in the apprehension of war, all eyes 
involuntarily turned to him as the first military character in the 
colony. At Mount Vernon he occasionally saw his former compa- 
nions in arms, Dr. James Craik, and Captain Hugh Mercer, also 
a physician, both natives of Scotland, and with them talked over 
the recollections of former years, and discussed the prospects of 
the future. Washington was visited during the year also by 
General Charles Lee and Major Horatio Gates, natives of Eng- 
land, who had distinguished themselves in the British army, and 
destined to become conspicuous in the American war of revolu- 
tion. They had recently purchased estates in Berkley County, 
Virginia. 

* Grigsby's Va. Convention of 1776, p. 148. 



CHAPTER LXXVI. 

1774. 

Indian Hostilities — Battle of Point Pleasant — General Andrew Lewis — Death of 
Colonel Charles Lewis — Cornstalk — Indignation against Dunmore — General 
Lewis and his Brothers. 

In April, 1774, some extraordinary hostilities occurred be- 
tween the Indians and the whites on the frontier of Virginia. 
On which side these outrages commenced was a matter of dispute, 
but the whites appear to have been probably the aggressors. An 
Indian war being apprehended, Dunmore appointed General 
Andrew Lewis, of Botetourt County, then a member of the 
assembly, to the command of the southern division of the forces 
raised in Botetourt, Augusta, and the adjoining counties east of 
the Blue Ridge, while his lordship in person took command of 
those levied in the northern counties, Frederick, Dunmore, and 
those adjacent. According to the plan of campaign, as arranged 
at Williamsburg, Lewis was to march down the valley of the Ka- 
nawha* to Point Pleasant, where that river empties into the 
Ohio, there to be joined by the governor, who was to march by 
way of Fort Pitt, and thence descend the Ohio. 

Late in August the Virginia Crazette announced news from 
the frontier that Lord Dunmore was to march in a few days for 
the mouth of New River, where he was to be joined by Lewis. 

Early in September the troops under his command made their 
rendezvous at Camp Union, f now Lewisburg, in the County of 
Greenbrier. They consisted of two regiments, under Colonel 
William Fleming, of Botetourt, and Colonel Charles Lewis, of 
Augusta, comprising about four hundred men. At Camp Union 
they were joined by a company under Colonel Field, of Culpepper, 
one from Bedford, under Colonel Buford, and two from the Hols- 
ton settlement, (now Washington County,) under Captains Shelby 

* Or "River of the Woods," as the word signifies, or New River, as it was 
also sometimes called. 

f Styled by Stuart, in his "Memoir of Indian Wars," Fort Savannah. 

(582) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 583 

and Harbert. These were part of the forces to be led on by 
Colonel Christian, who was to join the troops at Point Pleasant 
as soon as his regiment should be completed. 

On the eleventh of September General Lewis, with eleven hun- 
dred men, commenced his march through the wilderness, piloted 
by Captain Matthew Arbuckle; flour, ammunition, and camp 
equipage being transported on pack-horses and bullocks driven 
in the rear of the little army. After a march of one hundred 
and sixty miles, they reached, on the thirtieth of September, Point 
Pleasant, at the junction of the Great Kanawha with the beautiful 
Ohio. "This promontory was elevated considerably above the 
high-water mark, and afforded an extensive and variegated pros- 
pect of the surrounding country. Here were seen hills, moun- 
tains, valleys, cliffs, plains, and promontories, all covered with 
gigantic forests, the growth of centuries, standing in their native 
grandeur and integrity, unsubdued, unmutilated by the hand of 
man, wearing the livery of the season, and raising aloft in mid- 
air their venerable trunks and branches as if to defy the lightning 
of the sky and the fury of the whirlwind. This widely-extended 
prospect, though rudely magnificent and picturesque, wanted, 
nevertheless, some of those softer features which might embellish 
and beautify, or, if the expression were permitted, might civilize 
the savage wilderness of some of nature's noblest efforts. Here 
were to be seen no villages nor hamlets, not a farm-house nor 
cottage, no fields nor meadows with their appropriate furniture, 
shocks of corn, nor herds of domestic animals. In its widest 
range the eye would in vain seek to discover a cultivated spot of 
earth on which to repose. Here were no marks of industry, nor 
of the exercise of those arts which minister to the comfort and 
convenience of man; here nature had for ages on ages held un- 
disputed empire. In the deep and dismal solitude of these wood- 
lands the lone wanderer would have been startled by the barking 
of the watch-dog, or the shrill clarion of a chanticleer. Here 
the whistling of the plough-boy, or the milk-maid's song, sounds 
elsewhere heard with pleasing emotions, would have been incon- 
gruous and out of place."* 

* Memoir of Battle of Point Pleasant, by Samuel L. Campbell, M.D. 



584 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Dunrnore, who had marched across the country to the Shaw- 
nee towns, failing to join Lewis, runners were sent out by him 
toward Fort Pitt in quest of his lordship. October the sixth the 
Williamsburg Gazette announced advices from the frontier that 
the Earl of Dunmore had concluded a treaty of peace with the 
Delaware Indians. And before the return of the runners des- 
patched from Point Pleasant, an express from the governor 
reached Point Pleasant on Sunday, the nineteenth of October, 
ordering General Lewis to march for the Chilicothe towns and 
there join him. Preparations were immediately made for crossing 
the Ohio. 

In the mean time the Indians, headed by Cornstalk, had deter- 
mined to cross the Ohio, some miles above Point Pleasant, and 
to march down during the night, so as to surprise the camp at 
daybreak. "Accordingly, on the evening of the ninth of Octo- 
ber, soon after dark, they began to cross the river on rafts pre- 
viously prepared. To ferry so many men over this wide river 
and on these clumsy transports must have required considerable 
time. But before morning they were all on the eastern bank, 
ready to proceed. Their route now lay down the margin of the 
river, through an extensive bottom. On this bottom was a heavy 
growth of timber, with a foliage so dense as in many places to in- 
tercept, in a great measure, the light of the moon and the stars. 
Beneath lay many trunks of fallen trees, strewed in different 
directions, and in various stages of decay. The whole surface of 
the ground was covered with a luxuriant growth of weeds, inter- 
spersed with entangling vines and creepers, and in some places 
with close-set thickets of spice-wood or other undergrowth. A 
journey through this in the night must have been tedious, tiresome, 
dark, and dreary. The Indians, however, entered on it promptly, 
and persevered until break of day, when, about a mile distant 
from the camp, one of those unforeseen incidents occurred which 
so often totally defeat or greatly mar the best concerted military 
enterprises."* 

Two soldiers setting out very early from the camp on a hunt- 
ing excursion, proceeded up the bank of the Ohio, and when they 

* Dr. Campbell's Memoir of the Battle of Point Pleasant. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 585 

had gone about two miles they came suddenly upon a large body 
of Indians, who had crossed the river the evening before, and 
were now just rising from their encampment and preparing for 
battle. Espying the hunters they fired and killed one of them ; 
the other escaping unhurt, ran back to the camp, where he 
arrived just before sunrise, and reported that "he had seen about 
five acres of ground covered with Indians as thick as they could 
stand one beside another." It was Cornstalk at the head of an 
army of Delawares, Mingoes, Cayugas, Iowas, Wyandots, and 
Shawnees, and but for the hunter's intelligence they would have 
surprised the camp. In a few moments two other men came in and 
confirmed the report, and then General Lewis lit his pipe, and 
sent forward the first division under his brother, Colonel Charles 
Lewis, and the second under Colonel Fleming ; the first marching 
to the right at some distance from the Ohio, the bottom being a 
mile wide there; the second marching to the left along the bank 
of the river. General Andrew Lewis remained with the reserve 
to defend the camp. Colonel Lewis's division had not advanced 
along the river bottom quite half a mile from the camp when he 
was vigorously attacked in front, a little after sunrise, by the 
enemy, numbering between eight hundred and a thousand. 
Fleming's division was likewise attacked on the bank of the 
river. In a short time Colonel Charles Lewis was mortally 
wounded; this gallant and estimable officer, when struck by the 
bullet, fell at the foot of a tree, when he was, against his own 
wish, carried back to his tent by Captain Morrow and a private, 
and he died in a few hours, deeply lamented. Colonel Fleming 
also was severely wounded, two balls passing through his arm 
and one through his breast. After cheering on the officers and 
soldiers, he retired to the camp. The Augusta troops, upon the 
fall of their leader, Colonel Lewis, and several of the men, gave 
way, and retreated toward the camp, but being met by a re-en- 
forcement of about two hundred and fifty, under Colonel Field, 
they rallied and drove back the enemy, and at this juncture this 
officer was killed. His place was taken by Captain Shelby. At 
length the Indians formed a line behind logs and trees, at right 
angles to the Ohio, through the woods to Crooked Creek, which 
empties into the Great Kanawha a little above its mouth. The 



586 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

engagement now became general, and was obstinately sustained 
in the bush-fighting manner on both sides. The Virginia troops 
being hemmed in between the two rivers, with the Indians in 
front, General Lewis employed the troops from the more eastern 
part of the colony (who were less experienced in Indian fighting) 
in throwing up a breastwork of the boughs and trunks of trees, 
across the delta between the Kanawha and Ohio. About twelve 
o'clock the Indian fire began to slacken, and the enemy slowly 
and reluctantly gave way, being driven back less than two miles 
during six or seven hours. A desultory fire was still kept up 
from behind trees, and the whites as they pressed on the savages 
were repeatedly ambuscaded. At length General Lewis detached 
three companies, commanded by Captains Shelby, Matthews, and 
Stuart, with orders to move secretly along the banks of the Ka- 
nawha and Crooked Creek, so as to gain the enemy's rear. This 
manoeuvre being successfully executed, the Indians, as some re- 
port, at four o'clock P.M., fled; according to other accounts, the 
firing continued until sunset. During the night they recrossed 
the Ohio. The loss of the Virginians in this action has been 
variously estimated at from forty to seventy-five killed and one 
hundred and forty wounded — a large proportion of the number 
of the troops actually engaged, who did not exceed five hundred 
and fifty, as one hundred of General Lewis's men, including his 
best marksmen, were absent in the woods hunting, and knew 
nothing of the battle until it was all over. Among the killed 
were Colonel Charles Lewis, Colonel Field, who had served in 
Braddock's war, Captains Buford, Morrow, Murray, Ward, Cun- 
diff, Wilson, and McClenachan, Lieutenants Allen, Goldsby, and 
Dillon. Of the officers present at the battle of Point Pleasant 
many became afterwards distinguished men.* 



* There may be mentioned General Isaac Shelby, a native of Maryland, who 
distinguished himself at King's Mountain, and was subsequently the first gover- 
nor of Kentucky ; General William Campbell, the hero of King's Mountain, and 
Colonel John Campbell, who distinguished himself at Long Island ; General 
Evan Shelby, who became an eminent citizen of Tennessee ; Colonel William 
Fleming, a revolutionary patriot ; Colonel John Stewart, of Greenbrier ; Colo- 
nel William McKee, of Kentucky; Colonel John Steele, governor of the Missis- 
sippi Territory, and General George Matthews, who distinguished himself at 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 587 

The loss of the savages was never ascertained ; the bodies of 
thirty-three slain were found, but many had been thrown into the 
Ohio during the engagement. The number of the Indian army 
was not known certainly, but it comprised the flower of the 
northern confederated tribes, led on by Red Hawk, a Delaware 
chief; Scoppathus, a Mingo; Chiyawee, a Wyandot; Logan, a 
Cayuga; and Ellinipsico, and his father, Cornstalk, Shawnees. 
But some say that Logan was not present in the battle. The Shaw- 
nees were a formidable tribe, who had played a prominent part on 
many a bloody field. Cornstalk displayed great skill and courage 
at Point Pleasant. It is said that on the day before the battle 
he had proposed to his people to send messengers to General 
Lewis to see whether a treaty of peace could be effected, but his 
followers rejected the proposal. During the battle, when one of 
his warriors evinced a want of firmness, he slew him with one 
blow of his tomahawk ; and during the day his sonorous voice was 
heard amid the din of arms exclaiming, in his native tongue, "Be 
strong, be strong." 

On the morning after the battle General Lewis buried his dead. 
They were interred without the pomp of war, but the cheeks of 
hardy mountaineers were bedewed with tears at the fate of their 
brave comrades. "The dead bodies of the Indians who fell in 
battle were left to decay on the ground where they expired, or 
to be devoured by birds or beasts of prey. The mountain eagle, 
lord of the feathered race, while from his lofty cairn with piercing 
eye he surveyed the varied realms around and far beneath, would 
not fail to descry the sumptuous feast prepared for his use. 
Here he might whet his beak, and feast, and fatten, and exult. 
Over these the gaunt wolf, grim tyrant of the forest, might pro- 
long his midnight revelry and howl their funeral dirge. While 
far remote in the deepest gloom of the wilderness, whither they 
had fled for safety, the surviving warriors might wail their fate, 
or chant a requiem to their departed spirits."* 

General Lewis, after caring for the wounded, erected a small 



Brandywiue, Germantown, and Guilford, and was governor of Georgia, and United 
States senator from that State. — Howe's Hist. Collections of Va., 363. 
* Dr. Campbell's Memoir of Battle of Point Pleasant. 



588 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

fort at Point Pleasant, and leaving a garrison there, marched to 
overtake Dunmore, who, with a thousand men, lay entrenched at 
Camp Charlotte, called after the queen, near the Shawnee town, 
(Chilicothe,) on the banks of the Scioto. The Indians having 
sued to him for peace, his lordship determined to make a treaty 
with them, and sent orders to Lewis to halt, or, according to 
others, to return to Point Pleasant. Lewis, suspecting the gover- 
nor's good faith, and finding himself threatened by a superior 
force of Indians, who hovered in his rear, disregarded the order, 
and advanced to within three miles of his camp. His lordship, 
accompanied by the Indian chief, White Eyes, visited the camp 
of Lewis, who (as some report) with difficulty restrained his men 
from killing the governor and his Indian companion. Lewis, to 
his great chagrin, received orders to return home with his troops, 
and he obeyed reluctantly, as it seemed a golden opportunity to 
give the savage enemy a fatal blow. 

General Andrew Lewis lived on the Roanoke, in the County 
of Botetourt. He was a native of Ireland, being one of five sons 
of John Lewis, who slew the Irish lord, settled Augusta County, . 
founded the town of Staunton, and furnished several sons to fight 
the battles of their country. He was the son of Andrew Lewis 
and Mary Calhoun, his wife, and was born in Donegal County, 
Ireland, (1678,) and died in Virginia, (1762,) aged eighty-four : 
a brave man, and a firm friend of liberty. All his sons were 
born in Ireland except Charles, the youngest. Andrew Lewis 
was twice wounded at Fort Necessity; was appointed by Wash- 
ington major of his regiment during the French and Indian war, 
and no officer more fully enjoyed his confidence. Major Lewis 
commanded the Sandy Creek expedition in 1756, and was made 
prisoner at Grant's defeat, where he exhibited signal prudence 
and bravery. His fortitude while a prisoner was equal to his 
courage in battle, and commanded the respect of the French 
officers. He was upwards of six feet in stature, of uncommon 
activity and strength, and of a form of exact symmetry. His 
countenance was stern and invincible, his deportment reserved 
and distant. When he was a commissioner on behalf of Virginia 
at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, in New York, in 1768, the gover- 
nor of that colony remarked of him, that "the earth seemed to 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 589 

tremble under him as he walked along." At the commencement 
of the revolutionary war Washington considered him the fore- 
most military man in America, and the one most worthy of the 
post of commander-in-chief of the American army. And it was 
to the country beyond the mountains that Washington looked as 
a place of refuge, in case he should be overpowered in the struggle, 
and there, defended by mountains and mountaineers, he hoped 
to defy the enemy. The statue of General Andrew Lewis is one 
of those to be placed on the monument in the capitol square, in 
Richmond.* 

Dunmore remaining after the departure of Lewis, concluded a 
treaty with the Indians. Upon this occasion Cornstalk, in a 
long speech, charged the whites with having provoked the war, 
his tones of thunder resounding over a camp of twelve acres. 
The truth is that during the years which elapsed between Bou- 
quet's treaty of 1764 and open war in 1774, a period of nominal 
peace was one of frequent actual collision and hostilities, and 
more lives were sacrificed on the frontier by the murderous In- 
dians than during the whole of the year 1774, including the battle 
of Point Pleasant.f 

* Thomas Lewis, eldest son of John Lewis, owing to a defective vision, was 
not actively engaged in the Indian wars. He was a man of learning, and repre- 
sentative of Augusta in the house of burgesses, and voted for Henry's resolutions 
of 1765; was a member of the conventions of 1776 and 1788. He married a Miss 
Strother, of Stafford. The second son, Samuel, died without issue. Andrew 
commanded at Point Pleasant. William, of the Sweet Sjn'ings, was distinguished 
in the frontier wars, and was an officer in the revolutionary army. He married 
first, Anne Montgomery, of Delaware, secondly, a Miss Thomson, a relative of 
the poet of "The Seasons." The fifth son, Colonel Charles Lewis, fell at Point 
Pleasant. 

f Lyman C. Draper, in Va. Hist. Register. 



CHAPTER LXXVIL 

Logan — Kenton — Girty — Dunmore's ambiguous Conduct — His grandson, Murray. 

Logan, the Cayuga chief, assented to the treaty, but, still 
indignant at the murder of his family, refused to attend with the 
other chiefs at the camp, and sent his speech in a wampum-belt 
by an interpreter: "I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he 
entered Logan's cabin hungry and he gave him not meat; if ever 
he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not? During the 
course of the last long and bloody war Logan remained idle in 
his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the 
whites that my countrymen pointed as they passed, and said, 
'Logan is the friend of white men.' I have even thought to have 
lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, 
the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the 
relations of Logan, not sparing even my women and children. 
There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living 
creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it: I 
have killed many: I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my 
country I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a 
thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. 
He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to 
mourn for Logan? Not one." Tah-gah-jute, or Logan, so named 
after James Logan, the secretary of Pennsylvania, was the son 
of Shikellamy, a celebrated Cayuga chief, who dwelt at Shamo- 
kin, on the picturesque banks of the Susquehanna. When 
Logan grew to man's estate, living in the vicinity of the white 
settlers, he appears, about the year 1767, to have found the 
means of his livelihood in hunting deer, dressing their skins, and 
selling them. When the daughter of a neighboring gentleman 
was just beginning to walk, her mother one day happening to say 
that she was sorry that she could not get a pair of shoes for her, 
Logan, who stood by, said nothing then, but soon after requested 
that the little girl might be allowed to go and spend the day at 
his cabin, which stood on a sequestered spot near a beautiful 
(590) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIKGINIA. 591 

spring (yet known as "Logan's Spring.") The mother's heart 
was at the first a little disconcerted at the singular proposal ; but 
such was her confidence in the Indian that she consented. The 
day wore away; the sun had gone down behind the mountains in 
parting splendor, and evening was folding her thoughtful wing, — 
and the little one had not yet returned. Just at this moment the 
Indian was seen descending the path with his charge, and quickly 
she was in her mother's arms, and pointing proudly to a beautiful 
pair of moccasins on her tiny feet, the product of Logan's skil- 
ful manufacture. 

Not long afterwards he removed to the far West, and he was 
remembered by an old pioneer as "the best specimen of humanity, 
white or red, that he had ever seen."* In 1772 the Rev. Mr. 
Heckwelder, Moravian missionary, met with Logan on the Beaver 
River, and took him to be an Indian of extraordinary capacity. 
He exclaimed against the whites for the introduction of ardent 
spirits among his people, and regretted that they had so few gen- 
tlemen among their neighbors; and declared his intention to set- 
tle on the Ohio, where he might live forever in peace with the 
whites; but confessed that he himself was too fond of the fire- 
water. In the following year Heckwelder visited Logan's settle- 
ment, below the Big Beaver, and was kindly entertained by such 
members of his family as were at home. About the same time 
another missionary, the Rev. Dr. David McClure, met with Logan 
at Fort Pitt. " Tah-gah-jute, or 'Short-dress,' for such was his 
Indian name, stood several inches more than six feet in height; 
he was straight as an arrow; lithe, athletic, and symmetrical in 
figure; firm, resolute, and commanding in feature; but the brave, 
open, manly countenance he possessed in his earlier years was 
now changed for one of martial ferocity." He spoke the 
English language with fluency and correctness. The victim 
of intemperance, pointing to his breast, he exclaimed to the 
missionary, "I feel bad here. Wherever I go the evil Mane- 
thocs pursue me;" and he earnestly enquired, "What shall 
I do?" Logan's family were massacred by a party of whites 
in the spring of 1774, perhaps under the pretext of retaliation 

* Tah-gah-jute, or Logan, and Captain Michael Cresap : a Discourse by Brantz 
Mayer. (Bait., 1851.) 



592 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

for some Indian murders. But the charge against Cresap 
appears to have been unfounded. Logan's family being on a 
visit to a family of the name of Great-house, were murdered 
by them and their associates, under circumstances of extraordi- 
nary cowardice and brutality. The mistake is one into which 
Logan might, in view of some recent transactions that had hap- 
pened under the command of Captain Cresap, naturally fall, and 
which does not at all impair the force of his speech. Mr. Jeffer- 
son meeting with a copy of it at Governor Dunmore's, in Wil- 
liamsburg, transcribed it in his pocket-book, and afterwards im- 
mortalized it in his "Notes on Virginia." He gave implicit 
confidence to its authenticity. Doddridge is of the same opinion. 
Jacob, in his Life of Cresap,* insinuates that the speech was a 
counterfeit, and declares that Cresap was as humane as brave, 
and had no participation in the massacre. General George 
Rogers Clarke, who was well acquainted with Logan and Cresap 
both, vouches for the substantial truth of Mr. Jefferson's story of 
Logan. Devoting himself to the work of revenge, he, with others, 
butchered men, women, and children; knives, tomahawks, and 
axes were left in the breasts which had been cleft asunder; 
females were stripped, and outraged, too horrible to mention; 
brains of infants beaten out and the dead bodies left a prey to 
the beasts of the forest. The family of a settler on the north 
fork of the Holston was massacred, and a war-club was left in the 
house, and attached to it the following note, which had been pre- 
viously, at Logan's dictation, written for him by one Robinson, a 
prisoner : — 

"Captain Cresap: 

"What did you kill my people on Yellow Creek for? The 
white people killed my kin at Conestoga a great while ago, and I 
thought nothing of that. But you killed my kin again on YcIIoav 
Creek, and took my cousin prisoner. Then I thought I must kill 
too; and I have been three times to war since; but the Indians 
are not angry — only myself. 

" CAPTAIN JOHN LOGAN. 

"July 21st, 1774." 

* Kerckeval's Hist, of Valley of Va. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 593 

Thirty scalps it was known, that he took in these murderous 
raids, but he joined not in open battle 

Simon Kenton, a native of Fauquier County, a voyager of the 
woods, was employed by Dunmore as a spy (together with Simon 
Girty) during this campaign, in the course of which he traversed 
the country around Fort Pitt, and a large part of the present 
State of Ohio. His history is full of daring adventure, cruel 
sufferings, and extraordinary turns of fortune. He was eight 
times made to run the Indian gauntlet; three times bound to the 
stake. He was with Clarke in his expedition against Vincennes 
and Kaskaskia; and with Wayne in the campaign of 1794. He 
died in Ohio, in poverty and neglect, his once giant frame bowed 
down with age.* Girty, after playing for a time the spy on both 
sides in the revolutionary contest, became at length an adherent 
of the enemy, and proved, toward his countrymen, a cruel and 
barbarous miscreant, in whom every sentiment of humanity ap- 
pears to have been extinct. Kenton and Girty are both good 
subjects for a novelist. 

Suspicions were not wanting in the minds of many Virginians, 
especially the inhabitants of the west, that the frontier had been 
embroiled in the Indian war by Dunmore's machinations; and 
that his ultimate object was to secure an alliance with the savages 
to aid England in the expected contest with the colonies ; and 
these suspicions were strengthened by his equivocal conduct 
during the campaign. He was also accused of fomenting, with the 
same sinister views, the boundary altercations between Pennsyl- 
vania and Virginia on the northwestern frontier. These charges 
and suspicions do not appear to be sustained by sufficient proof. 
It is probable that in these proceedings his lordship was 
prompted rather by motives of personal interest than of political 
manoeuvre. His agent, Dr. Conolly, was locating large tracts of 
land on the borders of the Ohio. 

By the Quebec Act of 1774 Great Britain, with a view of 
holding the colonies in check, established the Roman Catholic re- 
ligion in Canada, and enlarged its bounds so as to comprise all 
the territory northwest of the Ohio to the head of Lake Superior 

* McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure, 92. 

38 



594 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

and the Mississippi. This attempt to extend the jurisdiction of 
Canada to the Ohio was especially offensive to Virginia. Richard 
Henry Lee, in congress, denounced it as the worst of all the acts 
complained of. In Virginia, Dunmore's avarice getting the bet- 
ter of his loyalty, he espoused her claims to western lands, and 
became a partner in enormous purchases in Southern Illinois. In 
1773 Thomas and Cuthbert Bullet, his agents, made surveys of 
lands at the falls of the Ohio; and a part of Louisville and of 
towns opposite to Cincinnati are yet held under his warrant. 

Murray, a grandson of the Earl of Dunmore, and page to 
Queen Victoria, visited the United States partly, it was said, for 
the purpose of making enquiry relative to western lands, the title 
of which was derived from his grandfather. Young Murray 
visited some of the old seats on the James, and makes mention 
of them in his entertaining "Travels in the United States." 

The assembly, upon the return of Dunmore to Williamsburg, 
gave him a vote of thanks for his good conduct of the war — a 
compliment which it was afterwards doubted whether he had 
merited. His motives in that campaign were, to say the least, 
somewhat mysterious. There is a curious coincidence in several 
points between the administration of Dunmore and that of Berk- 
ley, one hundred years before. 



CHAPTER LXXVIII. 

DANIEL BOONE. 

This famous explorer, a native of Pennsylvania, removed at 
an early age to North Carolina, and remained there till his for- 
tieth year. In the year 1769 he left his home on the sequestered 
Yadkin, to wander through the wilderness in quest of the country 
of Kentucky, and to become the archetype of the race of pio- 
neers. In this exploration of the unknown regions of Western 
Virginia, he was accompanied by five companions. Reaching 
Red River early in June, they beheld from an eminence the 
beautiful region of Kentucky. A pioneer named Finley is sup- 
posed by some to have been the first explorer of the interior of 
Kentucky, and it is said that he visited it alone; it is difficult to 
determine a matter of this kind, and the first exploration has 
been attributed to others. According to McClung,* it was Finley's 
glowing picture of the country, on his return home, in 1767, that 
allured Boone to venture into the wilderness. Kentucky, it ap- 
pears, was not inhabited by the Indians, they having not a wig- 
wam there; but the Southern and Northwestern Indians resorted 
there, as on a neutral ground, to hunt, and often came into colli- 
sion and engaged in conflicts, which, according to some, gave it 
the name of Kentucky, or "the dark and bloody ground;" but 
the true signification of the word is a matter of doubt. Boone and 
his companions encamping, began to hunt and to reconnoitre the 
country. Innumerable buffaloes browsed on the leaves of the cane, 
or pastured on the herbage of the plains, or lingered on the border 
of the salt-lick. In December, Boone and a comrade, John Stuart, 
rambling in the magnificence of forests yet unscarred by the axe, 
were surprised by a party of Indians and captured. Boone met 
the catastrophe with a mien of stoical indifference. A week after 

* Sketches of Western Adventure. 

(595) 



596 HISTORY OF TIIE COLONY AND 

the capture the party encamped in the evening in a thick cane- 
brake, and having built a large fire, lay down to rest. About 
midnight, Boone gently awaking his companion, they effected 
their escape, traversing the forest by the uncertain light of the 
stars, and by observing the mossy side of the trees. Returning 
to their camp they found it plundered and deserted ; and the fate 
of its occupants could not be doubted. A brother of Boone, 
with another hardy adventurer, shortly after overtook the two for- 
lorn survivors. It was not long before Stuart was slain by the 
savages and scalped, and the companion of Boone's brother de- 
voured by wolves. The two brothers remained in a wilderness 
untrod by the white man, surrounded by perils, and far from the 
reach of succor. With unshaken fortitude they continued to 
hunt, and erected a rude cabin to shelter them from the storms of 
winter. When threatened by the approach of savages, they lay 
during the night concealed in swamps. In May, 1770, Boone's 
brother returned home for horses and ammunition, leaving him 
alone, without bread, salt, or sugar, or even a horse or a dog. 
Daniel Boone, in one of his solitary excursions made at this time, 
wandered during the whole day through a region whose native 
charms dispelled every gloomy thought. Just at the close of 
day, when the gales were lulled, not a breath of air stirring 
the leaves, he gained the summit of a commanding ridge, and, 
looking around, with delight beheld the ample regions mapped out 
beneath. On one hand he saw the beautiful Ohio delineating the 
western boundary of Kentucky; while at a distance the moun- 
tains lifted their peaks to the clouds. All nature was still. He 
kindled a fire near a fountain of sweet water, and feasted on the 
loin of a buck killed a few hours before. As night folded her 
mysterious wings he heard the distant yells of savages ; but, worn 
out with fatigue, he fell asleep, and did not awake until the morn- 
ing beams were glancing through the forest glades, and the birds 
warbling their matin songs. No populous city, with all its ex- 
citements and attractions, could have pleased him half so much 
as the charms of nature in Kentucky. Rejoined by his brother, 
in the summer of 1770, he explored the valley of the Cumber- 
land River. In 1771 Daniel Boone, after an absence of three 
years, returned to his home on the Yadkin ; sold such of his pos- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 597 

sessions as he could not carry with him, and started with his 
family to return and settle in Kentucky. Some cows, horses, 
and household utensils formed his baggage. His wife and chil- 
dren were mounted on horseback, their neighbors regarding them 
as doomed to certain destruction. On the route he was re- 
enforced by five families, and forty armed men at Powell's Val- 
ley. In October the young men who had charge of the pack- 
horses and cattle in the rear, were surprised by Indians, and of 
seven only one escaped; six were slain, and among them Boone's 
oldest son. This occurred near the gap of the Cumberland 
Mountains, whose dark gorges, rocky cliffs, and hoary summits 
strike the mind of the beholder with awe. The Indians were 
repulsed with heavy loss ; but the whites retired forty miles to 
the settlement on the Clinch River, where Boone with his family 
remained for some time. Virginia in vain demanded of the 
Cherokees the surrender of the offenders. One of Boone's party, 
in retaliation, afterwards slew an Indian at a horse-race on the 
frontier, in spite of the interposition of the by-standers. In 
1774, at the request of Governor Dunmore, Boone, leaving his 
family on the banks of the Clinch, went to assist in conveying a 
party of surveyors to the falls of the Ohio. He was next em- 
ployed in the command of three garrisons during the campaign 
against the Shawnees. In March of the ensuing year, at the 
solicitation of some gentlemen of North Carolina, Boone, at the 
treaty of Watauga, purchased from the Cherokees of North 
Carolina the lands claimed by them, lying between the Kentucky 
River and the Tennessee. But Kentucky being within the char- 
tered limits of Virginia, she* declared this treaty null and void, 
and proclaimed her own title. The North Carolina grantees, 
however, received in compensation a liberal grant of lands on 
Green River. Boone also undertook to mark out a road from 
the settlements to the wilderness of Kentucky; during this work 
several of his men were killed by the savages. In 1775 he 
erected a fort at Boonsborough, near the Kentucky River, and he 
removed his family there, and his wife and daughter were sup- 
posed to be the first white women that ever stood upon the banks 

* See Journal of Convention of '76. 



598 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

of the Kentucky River; and Boonsborough was long an outpost 
of civilization. 

The remainder of Boone's career, full of stirring adventure, 
belongs rather to the early history of Kentucky. When the 
settlements around him began to grow too thick for his taste, he 
removed farther westward. This extraordinary man, who could 
neither read nor write, in 1792 dictated a brief account of his 
life to some youthful writer, whose attempt to enhance the inte- 
rest of the narrative by rhetorical embellishments afforded no 
little satisfaction to the unsophisticated old voyager of the woods, 
and nothing pleased him better than to sit and listen to the read- 
ing of it. He would listen attentively, rub his hands together, 
smile complacently and ejaculate, "All true, every word true! 
not a lie in it." Solitary hunting, as it had been the charm of 
his earlier years, afforded him the solace of his old age; and 
when too old to walk through the woods, he would ride to the 
edge of the salt-licks and lie there in ambush for the sake of get- 
ting a shot at the deer. He was in person rough and robust; his 
countenance homely but kind; his manner cold, grave, taciturn; 
his conversation simple and unobtrusive; he never speaking of 
himself but when questioned. He was withal brave, humane, 
prudent, and modest.* He died in 1820, aged nearly ninety 
years. 

* McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure, 92. 



CHAPTER LXXIX. 

1775. 

Lord Dunniore — Second Convention — St. John's Church — Henry's Resolutions — 
His Speech — Measures adopted. 

In the beginning of 1775 the people of Virginia were in a 
state of anxious suspense, expecting an outbreak of civil war, 
Dunmore remained in gloorny solicitude in his palace, tenacious 
of authority, but fearful of resisting the popular will. Intelli- 
gence was now continually received of commotions among the 
people; resolutions, essays, and speeches added new fuel to the 
excitement. 

The second Virginia convention assembled at Richmond, on 
Monday, the twentieth day of March. St. John's Church, in 
which the sessions were held, stands on Richmond Hill, com- 
manding a panorama of Richmond, (then a few straggling houses,) 
hills, and fields, and woods, and the James, with its rocks 
and islands, flashing rapids and murmuring falls, and poetic 
mists. The convention approved of the proceedings of congress, 
and of the conduct of the Virginia delegates. Resolutions were 
adopted thanking the assembly of Jamaica* for their petition and 
memorial to the king in behalf of the colonies; and expressing 
Virginia's ardent wish for "a speedy return of those halcyon 
clays when they lived a free and happy people." The too abject 
tone of these resolutions aroused the patriotic indignation of 
Patrick Henry, and he introduced resolutions for putting the 
colony immediately into a state of defence against the encroach- 
ments of Great Britain, and for embodying, arming, and dis- 
ciplining a force of well-regulated militia for that purpose. They 
were supported by Henry, the mover, Jefferson, the Lees, Pages, 
Mason, and others; but many of the members recoiled with hor- 
ror from this startling measure; and it was strenuously resisted 

* Jamaica and New York were acquired by conquest. 

(599) 



GOO HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

by Bland, Harrison, Pendleton, Nicholas, and "Wythe, who held 
such a step premature, until the result of the last petition to the 
king should be more fully known. They still flattered them- 
selves with the hope that the breach might yet be repaired in 
some way, either by the influence of the opposition in England, 
of the manufacturing interests, or the relenting of the king. 
They urged that Virginia was unmilitary, unprovided for war, 
weak, and defenceless, and insisted that desperate measures 
should not be resorted to, until hope herself had fled. Henry 
replied: "What has there been in the conduct of the British 
ministry for the last ten years to justify hope? Are fleets and 
armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? These 
are the implements of subjugation sent over to rivet upon us the 
chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. 
And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? 
We have been trying that for the last ten years. Have Ave any- 
thing new to offer ? Shall we resort to entreaty and supplica- 
tion? We have petitioned — we have remonstrated — we have 
supplicated; and we have been spurned from the foot of the 
throne. In vain may we indulge the fond hope of reconciliation. 
There is no longer room for hope. If we wish to be free we 
must fight ! I repeat it, sir, w T e must fight ! An appeal to arms, 
and to the God of hosts, is all that is left us ! 

"They tell me that we are weak; but shall we gather strength 
by irresolution? We are not weak. Three millions of people 
armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country, are 
invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. 
We shall not fight alone. A just God presides over the destinies 
of nations, and will raise up friends for us. The battle is not to 
the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. 
Besides, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire 
it, it is too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat 
but in "submission and slavery. The war is inevitable — and let it 
come ! let it come ! 

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the 
price of chains and slavery ? Forbid it, Almighty God ! I know 
not what course others may take ; but as for me, give me liberty, 
or give me death." 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. G01 

Henry's voice, calm in his exordium, rose gradually to a higher 
and yet higher pitch, until the very walls of the church seemed 
to rock and tremble, as if conscious of the tremendous vibrations. 
The listeners, forgetful of order and of themselves, leaned for- 
ward in their seats, magnetized by the voice and look of the 
speaker, whose pale face and glaring eye assumed an appearance 
of preternatural emotion. His last exclamation, " Give me liberty, 
or give me death," sounded like the shout of the warrior in the 
tempest of battle.* When Mr. Henry sat down every eye 
remained still fixed on him, entranced and spell-bound, f 

Richard Henry Lee supported Mr. Henry in a masterly review 
of the resources of the colonies and their means of resistance, 
exhorting the convention to remember that "the race is not to 
the swift, nor the battle to the strong, and that he is thrice 
armed whose cause is just." "But," says Wirt, "his melody 
was lost amid the agitations of that ocean which the master-spirit 
of the storm had lifted up on high." It would, however, be a 
wide mistake to believe that a melodious voice was Mr. Lee's 
highest qualification as a speaker. Plain, solid, common sense 
Avas the distinguishing characteristic of his mind as it was of Mr. 
Henry's. 

The overweening caution of those who opposed Henry's reso- 
lutions perhaps served the purpose of the breaks in a train of 
railroad cars — while they endeavored to retard the movement, 
they made it eventually safer. The resolutions were carried, and 
a committee was appointed to prepare a plan of defence. % 

In conformity with a plan reported by the committee, the 
convention unanimously determined on the establishment of a 
well-regulated militia, by forming in every county one or more 

* Randall's Life of Jefferson, i. 101. 

f The expression, "after all, we must fight," had been used four months be- 
fore by Joseph Hawley, of Massachusetts, in a letter to John Adams, which he 
showed to Patrick Henry while they were together in the first congress. Henry, 
upon reading the words, raised his hand, and with an oath exclaimed, " I am of 
that man's mind." 

J The committee consisted of Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Robert C. 
Nicholas, Benjamin Harrison, Lemuel Riddick, George Washington, Adam 
Stephen, Andrew Lewis, William Christian, Edmund Pendleton, Thomas Jeffer- 
son, and Isaac Zane. 



602 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

volunteer companies and troops of horse, to be in constant train- 
ing and ready to act at a moment's warning, and hence called 
"minute-men." Mr. Nicholas, hitherto an extreme conservative, 
now proposed to raise an army of ten thousand regulars; the 
proposition evinced his enthusiasm in the cause ; but the kind of 
force which he recommended still displayed his distrust in means 
of defence resting immediately on the body of the people. 
Measures were adopted by the convention to promote the raising 
of wool, cotton, flax, and hemp, and to encourage domestic 
manufactures of gunpowder, salt, iron, and steel; and the mem- 
bers agreed to make use of home-made fabrics,and recommended 
the practice to the people. The former delegates to congress 
were re-elected, with the substitution of Mr. Jefferson in lieu of 
Peyton Randolph, in case of his non-attendance. Mr. Randolph, 
being speaker of the house of burgesses, did not attend that 
congress, and Mr. Jefferson accordingly took his place. 



CHAPTER LXXX. 

JEFFERSON. 

Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell, in the County of 
Albemarle, on the 2d day of April, 1743.* According to family 

* Randall's Life of Jefferson gives the following extract from Colonel Peter 
Jefferson's Book of Common Prayer: — 

BIRTHS. 

Jane Jefferson 1740, June 27. 

Mary 1741, October 1. 

Thomas 1743, April 2. 

Elizabeth 1744, November 4. 

Martha 1746, May 29. 

Peterfielcl 1748, October 16. 

Ason 1750, March 9. 

Lucy 1752, October 10. 

Anna Scott Randolph 1755, October 1. 

MARRIAGES. 

Jane Jefferson 

Mary 1760, June 24. 

Thomas 1772, January 1. 

Elizabeth... 

Martha 1765, June 20. 

Peterfield 

Ason 

Lucy 1769, September 12. 

Anna Scott Randolph 1788, October. 

DEATHS. 

Jane Jefferson 1765, October 1. 

Mary 

Thomas 

Elizabeth 1773, January 1. 

Martha 

Peterfield 1748, November 29. 

Ason 1750, March 9. 

Lucy 

Anna Scott Randolph 

(603) 



604 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

tradition his paternal ancestors, among the early settlers of Vir- 
ginia, came from near Mount Snowden, in Wales, and one of 
them was a member of the first house of burgesses thai* met in 
1619. The grandfather of Thomas lived at Osborne's, in Ches- 
terfield. Peter, (father of Thomas,) a land surveyor, settled at 
Shadwell, where he had taken up a tract of land, including 
Monticello. Shadwell was called after the parish in London in 
which his wife was born. He was born in February, 1708, and 
married, in 1738, Jane, daughter of Isham Randolph, of Dunge- 
ness, in Goochland. "The Randolphs," says Mr. Jefferson, 
"trace their pedigree far back in England and Scotland, to which 
let every one ascribe the faith and merit he chooses." Peter 
Jefferson's early education had been neglected, but being a man 
of strong parts he read much, and so improved himself that he 
was chosen,* with Joshua Fry, professor of mathematics in Wil- 
liam and Mary College, to continue the boundary line between 
Virginia and North Carolina, and was afterwards employed, Avith 
Mr. Fry, to make a map of the colony. This was the first regu- 
lar map of Virginia ever made, that of Captain Smith, although 
remarkably well delineated, considering the circumstances under 
which it was made, being, of necessity, in large part conjectural. 

Peter Jefferson was one of the first persons who settled in 
Goochland, since known as Albemarle, about the year 1737. 
That county was formed in 1744 out of a part of Goochland, 
which had been carved out of Henrico in 1727. 

Thomas Jefferson's earliest recollection was of his being handed 
up and carried on a pillow on horseback by a servant when his 
father was removing, in 1745, from Shadwell to Tuckahoe. 
Peter Jefferson was a man of extraordinary physical strength ; he 
could "head up," that is raise up from their sides to an upright 
position, at once, two hogsheads of tobacco weighing near a thou- 
sand pounds each. He was a favorite with the Indians, and they 
often made his house a stopping-place, and in this way Thomas 
imbibed an uncommon interest in that people. 

Peter Jefferson dying in 1757, left a widow (who survived till 
1776) with six daughters and two sons, of whom Thomas, then 



* 1749. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 605 

fourteen years of age, was the elder. He inherited the lands on 
which he was born, and where he lived. When five years of age, 
he was placed at school at Tuckahoe, and when nine, upon the 
return of the family to Shadwe'll, at a Latin school, where he 
continued until his father's death. His teacher, the Rev. Wil- 
liam Douglas, a native of Scotland, taught him the rudiments of 
Latin, Greek, and French. At his father's death he was put 
under the care of the Rev. James Maury, of Huguenot descent, 
a good classical scholar and thorough teacher, with whom he con- 
tinued for two years at the parsonage, fourteen miles from Shad- 
well.* The student found recreation without in hunting on Peter's 
Mountain, within doors in playing on the violin. In the spring 
of 1760 he went to William and Mary College, and remained 
there for two years. Dr. William Small, a Scotchman, was then 
professor of mathematics there: a man of engaging manners, 
large views, and profound science. He shortly afterwards filled, 
for a time, the chair of ethics, rhetoric, and belles lettres. He 
formed a strong attachment to young Jefferson, and made him 
the daily companion of his leisure hours, and it was his conversa- 
tion that first gave him a bent toward scientific pursuits. Small 
returned, in 1762, to Europe. Before his departure he had pro- 
cured for Jefferson, from George Wythe, a reception as a student 
of law under his direction, and had also introduced him to the 
acquaintance of Governor Fauquier. At his table Jefferson met 
Dr. Small and Mr. Wythe, and from their conversation derived 
no little instruction. It was in 1765 that, while a law-student, 
he heard the "bloody debate" on Henry's resolutions. In May 
of the following year he made a northern trip, in a one-horse 
chair, by way of Annapolis, where he found the people rejoicing 
at the repeal of the stamp act. At Philadelphia he was inocu- 
lated for the small-pox by Dr. Shippen. At New York Mr. 
Jefferson became acquainted with Elbridge Gerry. 

Jefferson, now twenty-four years old, entered upon the practice 
of the law in the general court, and continued in it until the Re- 
volution closed the courts of justice. He was not fitted for the 
office of advocate, owing to a defective voice, and he never spoke 

* Where now stands the mansion of the late William F. Gordon. 



606 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

more than a few sentences at a time.* In 1769 he became a 
member of the assembly," and so continued, patriotic, active, and 
ardent, until the meetings were suspended by the war. He made 
an unsuccessful eiFort in that body for the emancipation of the 
slaves in Virginia. January the 1st, 1772, he married Martha, 
widow of Bathurst Skelton, and youngest daughter of John 
Wayles, born in Lancaster, England, a lawyer, who lived at 
"The Forest," in Charles City County. She was then twenty- 
three years old.f In 1773 Mr. Jefferson contributed to the for- 
mation of committees of correspondence between the colonial 
legislatures. In the year following he was elected member of 
the convention which met in August. Unable to attend, owing 
to sickness, he communicated his views in the form of written 
instructions, for the Virginia delegates in Congress. 



* Randall's Jefferson, i. 50. 

j- Her father, who had married three times, dying in May, 1773, left issue 
three daughters, one of whom married Francis Eppes, (father of John W. Eppes, 
who married Maria, daughter of Thomas Jefferson,) and the other, Fulwar Skip- 
with, afterwards American consul in France. The portion that fell to Martha 
was encumbered with a debt, which ultimately, by the depreciation of paper 
money, resulted in a heavy loss. — Randall's Jefferson, and Memoirs and Corr. of 
Jefferson, i. 1, 3. 



CHAPTER LXXXL 



17V5. 



Dunmore's Proclamation — Removal of Powder — Disturbances at Williamsburg — 
Military Movements — Volunteers at Fredericksburg — Governor and Council — 
Hanover Volunteers and Henry — He extorts compensation for Powder — Dun- 
more's Proclamation — Henry's popularity. 

On the twenty-eighth of March Dunniore issued a proclama- 
tion, by command, as he said, of the king, for the prevention of 
the appointment of deputies from Virginia to the congress which 
was to assemble in May. And in compliance with instructions 
received from England, the governor ordered Captain Collins, 
with a party of marines and sailors from the Magdalen, lying at 
Burwell's Ferry, to remove the powder from the magazine at 
Williamsburg, and it was carried on board of that vessel secretly, 
between three and four o'clock a.m., of Thursday, April the 
twentieth, the day following the collision at Lexington and Con- 
cord. It had been rumored some days before in Williamsburg 
that Lord Dunmore had taken the locks off from most of the guns 
in the magazine, and that he intended to remove the powder. 
The people of the town were alarmed, and the volunteers for 
several nights kept guard over the magazine; at length growing 
negligent, and disbelieving the report, on Thursday night the 
guard was discharged at an early hour. Thus Collins with his 
party, who had been secreted in the palace, seized the powder 
without opposition. Dunmore, anticipating the resentment of 
the people, armed his servants and some Shawnee hostages, and 
muskets were laid on the floor, loaded and primed, and the cap- 
tains of the ships of war lying at York were ordered to have in 
readiness an armed force for the defence of the palace. As soon 
as these proceedings became known, the Williamsburg volunteers 
flew to arms, and were with difficulty restrained by Peyton Ran- 
dolph and Robert C. Nicholas from assaulting the palace and 
seizing the governor. The authorities of the town, in accordance 

(607) 



608 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

with a resolution of a meeting of the people, solicited the governor 
to restore the powder immediately, urging among other reasons 
which demanded it, the apprehension of a servile war, instigated 
by "wicked and designing men." Dunmore, in his reply, pre- 
tended that he had removed the powder from the magazine as 
being an insecure place in case of such an insurrection;* declared 
that it should be returned as soon as it should appear that the 
precaution was unnecessary; that in case of an insurrection he 
would, upon his honor, return it in half an hour ; but he expressed 
his surprise that the people were under arms, and said that he 
should not deem it prudent to put powder into their hands under 
such circumstances. The reply was considered evasive and false. 
When he had first heard that the people were in arms, he swore, 
"by the living God," that if any violence should be offered to 
him, or to the officers who had acted under his directions, he 
would proclaim freedom to the slaves, and lay the town in ashes. 
Some of the citizens, in consequence of this threat, sent their 
wives and children into the country. 

The citizens of Williamsburg resolved unanimously to continue 
their contributions for the relief of the inhabitants of Boston. 
Intelligence of these occurrences at the capital soon spread 
through the country. More than six hundred volunteers met at 
Fredericksburg by the twenty-seventh of April, and were ready 
to march to Williamsburg. Gloucester and Henrico demanded 
the restitution of the powder, the Gloucester men threatening, in 
case of refusal, to seize the governor. Bedford offered a premium 
for the manufacture of gunpowder; the independent company of 
Dumfries and the Albemarle volunteers were ready for action. 
Dunmore renewed his threats, and was confident, as he wrote to 
Lord Dartmouth, the English minister, that "with a small re-en- 
forcement of troops and arms he could raise such a body of In- 
dians, negroes, and others as would reduce the refractory people 
of this colony to obedience. "f 

Three citizens, deputed by the troops assembled at Fredericks- 
burg, repaired to Williamsburg for the purpose of ascertaining 

* There had been an alarm of one from Sui'rey County. 
| Bancroft, vii. 277. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 609 

the real state of affairs, and to offer military assistance if desired. 
Peyton Randolph, in behalf of the corporation, in replying to the 
committee, stated that: "Besides what has been said in his public 
answer, the governor has given private assurances to several gen- 
tlemen that the powder shall be returned to the magazine, though 
he has not condescended to fix the day for its return. So far as 
we can judge, from a comparison of all circumstances, the gover- 
nor considers his honor at stake; he thinks that he acted for the 
best, and will not be compelled to what, we have abundant reason 
to believe, he would cheerfully do, if left to himself." "If we 
then may be permitted to advise, it is our opinion and most 
earnest request, that matters may be quieted for the present at 
least; we are firmly persuaded that perfect tranquillity will be 
speedily restored. By pursuing this course we foresee no hazard, 
or even inconvenience that can ensue. Whereas we are appre- 
hensive, and this we think upon good grounds, that violent mea- 
sures may produce effects which God only knows the conse- 
quence of."* 

Upon this reply being reported to the volunteers at Fredericks- 
burg, styled "The friends of constitutional liberty in America," 
they declared that it was dictated by fear, and resolved to march 
at all events to Williamsburg, under command of Captain Hugh 
Mercer, who was eager to redress the indignity which Virginia 
had suffered at the hands of the governor. 

At this juncture Peyton Randolph happened to reach the house 
of Edmund Pendleton, one of his colleagues, on his route to 
Philadelphia, where the congress was about to meet. These two 
eminent men sent to Fredericksburg, on Saturday, the twenty- 
ninth, a letter advising that further action should be deferred 
until the congress should adopt a plan of resistance. Mercer, 
who had written to Washington for advice, received a reply to 
the same effect. One hundred and two deputies were appointed 
a council to consider this advice, and after a long and animated 
discussion it was assented to by a majority of one vote only.f 



* Letter dated at. Williamsburg April 27th, 1775, to Mann Page, Jr., Lewis 
Willis, and Benjamin Grymes, in S. Lit. Mess., 1858, 26. 
f Burk's Hist, of Va., iii. 406. 

39 



610 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

The military, consisting of fourteen companies of light-horse, for 
several days were encamped in the fields near the town, armed 
and equipped, and they acquiesced reluctantly in the determina- 
tion not to march at once to the capital. The Virginians were 
at the same time arming in other parts of the country to re-en- 
force, whenever necessary, those who had first taken up arms; 
troops were collected at the Bowling Green, and others on their 
march from Frederick, Berkley, Dunmore, and other counties, 
were arrested, by information that the affair of the gunpoAvder 
was about to be accommodated. The council of one hundred and 
two, before adjourning, adopted an address pledging themselves 
to re-assemble whenever necessary, and by force of arms to de- 
fend the laws, liberties, and rights of Virginia, or any sister 
colony, from unjust and wicked invasion. This address was read 
at the head of each company, and it concluded with the significant 
words, "God save the liberties of America!" 

The council at this time consisted of President Nelson, Com- 
missary Camra, Ralph Wormley, Colonel G. Corbin, G. Corbin, 
Jr., William Byrd, and John Page. Being summoned to hold a 
meeting, they assembled as usual in the council chamber, but 
Dunmore requested their attendance at the palace. He excused 
his removal of the powder as owing to his fear that the volunteers 
might have been tempted to seize upon the magazine; he com- 
plained that his life had been exposed to danger in the recent 
disturbances, and he recommended the issuing of a proclamation. 
John Page, the youngest member, boldly advised the governor 
to give up the powder and arms, as the measure necessary to re- 
store public tranquillity. Dunmore, enraged, struck the table 
with his fist, exclaiming, "Mr. Page, I am astonished at you." 
The other councillors remained silent. Page, - although he had 
been made a member of the council by Dunmore, had, neverthe- 
less, opposed his nomination of John Randolph as one of the 
board of visiters of the college, declaring " that as he had been 
rejected on a former occasion as not possessing the disposition 
and character, moral and religious, which the charter and statutes 
of the college required, he ought not again to be nominated, till 
it could be proved that he had abandoned his former principles 
and practices, which no one could venture to say he had." Mr. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 611 

Page had then proposed Nathaniel Burwell in the place of the 
governor's nominee, and he was elected, the governor alone dis- 
senting. This proceeding gave great offence to Dunmore and his 
secretary, Foy. Foy showed his resentment so offensively, that, 
says Page, " I was obliged to call him to account for it, and he, 
like a brave and candid man, made full reparation to me and my 
my friend, James Innes." 

In Hanover the committee of safety for the county, and the 
members of the Independent Company, at the call of Patrick 
Henry, met at New Castle on the second day of May, and were 
addressed by him with such effect that they resolved either to 
recover the powder or make a reprisal for it.* 

Burkf says : " The affair of the powder was decided before the 
battle of Lexington was ever talked of in Virginia." But as it 
appears that the express from Massachusetts reached Petersburg 
on Sunday, the first of May, J it is probable that Henry had 
already heard the news. Captain Meredith resigned in Henry's 
favor, and he was invested with the command,. Meredith accepting 
the place of lieutenant. Having received orders from the com- 
mittee consonant with his own suggestions, Captain Henry 
marched at once toward Williamsburg. Ensign Parke Goodall, 
with sixteen men, was detached into King and Queen County to 
Laneville, (on the Matapony,) the seat of Richard Corbin, the 
king's deputy receiver-general, to demand the estimated value of 
the powder, and in case of his refusal to make him a prisoner. 
The detachment reached Laneville about midnight, and a guard 
was stationed around the house. At daybreak Mrs. Corbin 
assured Goodall that the king's money was never kept there, but 
at Williamsburg, and that Colonel Corbin was then in that town. 
Henry had started from Hanovertown with only his own com- 
pany, but the news of his march being speedily spread abroad, 
companies started up on all sides, and were in motion to join his 
standard, to the number, it was believed, of several, some say 

* Wirt-'a Henry, 137 ; Burk's Hist, of Va., iv. 13. This volume is a continua- 
tion of Burk by Skelton Jones and Louis Hue Girardin, mainly by the latter, 
who enjoyed the advantage of Mr. Jefferson's assistance. 

f Vol. iii. 410. 

J Lossing's Field-Book of the Revolution, ii. 584. Wirt says that the news 
reached Virginia before the assembling of the volunteers at Fredericksburg. 



612 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

five thousand men., The colony was governed by county com- 
mittees. Lady Dunmore, with her children, retired in dismay to 
the Fowey, lying at Yorktown. Even the patriots at Williams- 
burg were alarmed at the approach of this tornado ; message after 
message was despatched, and Captain Henry was implored to 
desist from entering Williamsburg. The messengers were de- 
tained, and he marched on. The scene resembled that presented 
by Bacon marching against Berkley a hundred years before. 
Dunmore, in the mean time, issued a proclamation calling upon 
the people to resist Henry, and planted cannon at his palace, and 
ordered up a detachment of marines from the Fowey. Before 
daybreak on the fourth of May, Captain Montague, of that ship, 
landed the detachment, and addressed a note to President Nelson, 
saying that he had received certain information that Lord Dun- 
more was threatened with an attack to be made at daybreak on 
that morning at the palace, and requesting him to endeavor to 
prevent any assault upon the marines, as in case of it he should 
be compelled to fire upon the town of York. 

Henry, with one hundred and fifty men, halted at Doncastle's 
Ordinary, (sixteen miles from Williamsburg,) where Goodall had 
been ordered to rejoin him. In the meanwhile the authorities of 
the town were concerting measures to prevent the threatened col- 
lision. Dunmore denounced Henry as a rebel and the author of 
all the disturbances, and poured out a tirade of profane threats 
and abuse. Nevertheless, at his instance, Carter Braxton, son- 
in-law to Colonel Corbin, repaired to Henry's headquarters on 
the third, and interposed his efforts to prevent matters from 
coming to extremities. Finding that Henry would not disband 
without receiving the powder or its equivalent, he returned to 
Williamsburg, and procured from Colonel Corbii^ the deputy 
receiver-general, a bill of exchange for the amount demanded, 
and delivering it to Henry at sunrise of Wednesday the fourth, 
succeeded in warding off the impending blow.* In this pacific 

* The following is a copy of the receipt : — 

"Doncastle's Ordinary, New Kent, May 4th, 1775. 

" Received from the Hon. Richard Coi;bin, Esq., his majesty's receiver-general, 
£330, as a compensation for the gunpowder lately taken out of the public maga- 
zine by the governor's order, which money I promise to convey to the Virginia 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 613 

course Mr. Braxton coincided with the moderate councils of the 
leading men at Williamsburg. 

Yorktown and Williamsburg being in commotion at the landing 
of the marines, and an attack upon the public treasury being 
apprehended, Henry wrote to Nicholas, the treasurer, offering 
the services of his force to remove the public treasury to any place 
in the colony which might be deemed a safer place of deposite 
than Williamsburg. The treasurer replied that he did not appre- 
hend any necessity for such a guard, and that the people of Wil- 
liamsburg "were perfectly quiet;" which, however, could hardly 
have been the case, because at that time more than a hundred 
citizens patroled the streets and guarded the treasury.* 

Henry, having attained the object of his march, returned with 
his volunteers to Hanover. The committee presented their thanks 
to the party for their good conduct, and also to the numerous 
volunteers who were marching to lend their co-operation. 

Parke Goodall was a member of the convention of 1788, and 
afterwards kept a tavern called the "Indian Queen," in the City 
of Richmond, f 

The contest between Henry and Dunmore concerning the 
powder, is like that between Colonel Hutchinson and Lord 
Newark on a similar occasion in 1642, at Nottingham, as related 
by Mrs. Hutchinson in her charming memoirs of her husband — £ 
the most beautiful monument ever erected by female affection. 

Two days after Henry had received compensation for the 
powder, Dunmore issued a proclamation denouncing "a certain 



delegates at the general congress, to be, under their direction, laid out in gun- 
powder for the colony's use, and to be stored as they shall direct, until the next 
colony convention or general assembly, unless it shall be necessary in the mean 
time to use the same in the defence of the colony. It is agreed that in case the 
next convention shall determine that any part of the said money ought to be 
returned to his majesty's said receiver-general, that the same shall be done 
accordingly. 

"PATRICK HENRY, JR. 

"Test: Samuel Meredith, 
Pafke Goodall." 

* Burk, iv. 15. 

f Richmond in By-gone Days, by Samuel Mordecai, 173. 

X Page 102. 



G14 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

Patrick Henry, Jr., of Hanover," and a number of deluded fol- 
lowers, charging them with having unlawfully taken up arms, 
and by letters excited the people in divers parts of the country 
to join them in these outrageous and rebellious practices, extort- 
ing £330 from the king's receiver-general, and forbidding all 
persons to aid or abet "the said Patrick Henry, Jr.," or his con- 
federates. The members of the council, with the exception of 
John Page, sided with the governor, and advised the issuing of 
the proclamation, and afterwards published an address, in which 
they expressed their "detestation and abhorrence for that licen- 
tious and ungovernable spirit that had gone forth and misled the 
once happy people of this country." The council now shared 
the public odium with Dunmore. There was a rumor that he in- 
tended to have Henry arrested on his way to the congress at 
Philadelphia; and it is also said that the governor denounced 
Henry as a coward for not having accompanied Randolph and 
Pendleton. Dunmore, writing to the ministry, described Henry 
as "a man of desperate circumstances,' one who had been very 
active in encouraging disobedience and exciting a spirit of revolt 
among the people for many years past."* So in Massachusetts 
Samuel Adams, the model patriot of New England, was denounced 
by the British governor there. Henry set out for the congress 
May the eleventh, and was escorted in triumph by his admiring 
countrymen as far as Hooe's Ferry, on the Potomac, and was 
repeatedly stopped on the way to receive addresses full of thanks 
and applause. 

* Bancroft, vii. 335. 



CHAPTER LXXXII. 



Mecklenburg: Declaration. 



That there was a Declaration of Independence made at 
Charlotte, by citizens of the County of Mecklenburg, North 
Carolina, on the 20th of May, 1775, is the commonly received 
opinion in that State, and has been often stated in print.* The 
closer scrutiny to which this declaration has been of late years 
subjected! appears to invalidate its authenticity. The patriotism, 
intelligence, and courage of the Scotch-Irish inhabitants of 
Mecklenburg — the Alexanders, Brevard, Polk, Balch, and others, 
are universally acknowledged; and that they "acted" independ- 
ence as early as May, 1775, is admitted. But that they then 
made an absolute declaration of independence, (supposing them 
competent to do so,) does not appear to be substantiated by suffi- 
cient evidence. The original manuscript, it is alleged, was pre- 
served by the secretary of the convention till the year 1800, when 
it was destroyed, with his dwelling-house, by fire. J It is said, 
however, that he had previously taken care to give copies of it to 
two or three persons; and mention is made of one of these tran- 
scripts as early as 1793. But they do not appear to have been 
any further multiplied. That a declaration of independence, 
made more than a year before that of July, 1776, should have 
been preserved by the secretary so long, and yet have remained 
unpublished and so little known, is extraordinary. It is remark- 
able, too, that such a paper should appear without date of time 
on the face of it. The meeting reported to have been held at 
Charlotte, on the twentieth of May, is styled "the convention;" 



* Its authenticity was admitted in the former edition of this work, 
f Especially by Mr. Grigsby, in his Discourse on the Virginia Convention of 
'76, p. 20. 

\ Foote's Sketches of North Carolina, 205. 

(615) 



616 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

but that of the thirty-first of the same kind, was simply a meet- 
ing of the committee of the county, and was so called at the 
time. It is asserted that the immediate exciting cause of the 
resolutions, or alleged declaration of the twentieth, was, that on 
that day a messenger arrived in hot haste with intelligence of the 
battle of Lexington. But it appears* that this intelligence 
reached Savannah, in Georgia, on the tenth ; and it would appear 
hardly probable that it should have reached Charlotte ten days 
later. 

Upon comparing one of the manuscript copies with the one 
published in Martin's History of North Carolina, there appears 
to be a remarkable difference between them. To explain this, it 
has, indeed, been conjectured, that Martin's copy contains the reso- 
lutions. as at first draughted by Dr. Brevard, the author of them, 
and that the other contains them in their amended form. But 
the Martin copy, instead of being a rough draught, appears to 
be more formal and complete than the other. The Martin copy 
expresses the resolution in the present tense; the other in the 
imperfect, bearing upon its face the appearance of having been 
made up at a subsequent time by an effort of recollection. 

The document styled a declaration, whatever may have been its 
origin, or terms, remained long in obscurity, public attention 
having been first drawn to it, in 1819, by the Raleigh Register, 
at the instance of Colonel Thomas Polk. But a declaration, to 
effect its object, must be published far and wide. 

The Mecklenburg committee met at Charlotte on the thirtieth 
of May, and passed a series of resolutions, (making no reference 
whatever to a previous declaration of independence;) suspending 
the former civil constitution, and organizing a provisional repub- 
lican government. The eighteenth resolution is in these words : 
"That these resolves be in full force and virtue, until instruc- 
tions from the provincial congress regulating the jurisprudence 
of the province shall provide otherwise, or the legislative body of 
Great Britain resign its unjust and arbitrary pretentions with 
respect to America:" thus explicitly recognizing the right of 
eminent domain as belonging to Great Britain. It is not to be 

* Bancroft, vii. 337. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 617 

credited that the Mecklenburg patriots made an absolute declara- 
tion of independence on the twentieth, and in ten days there- 
after acknowledged the sovereignty of Great Britain. These 
admirable resolutions of the thirtieth were published in the Mer- 
cury, a North Carolina newspaper, (and others,) and a copy of it 
was transmitted by Governor Tryon to the British minister, and 
denounced as the boldest of all, "most traitorously declaring the 
entire dissolution of the laws and constitution, and setting up a 
system of rule and regulation subversive of his majesty's govern- 
ment." The alleged declaration of the twentieth, brief and abso- 
lute, was published in no newspaper, and was not denounced by the 
governor; while the resolutions of the thirty -first, recognizing the 
sovereignty of Great Britain, were so published and denounced. 
Mecklenburg, in North Carolina, was, nevertheless, then unques- 
tionably in a condition of actual self-government and virtual 
independence; and the names of Brevard, the master-spirit of 
the Charlotte Convention, (afterwards a patriot-martyr,) and of 
his compatriots, stand on the page of history in characters of 
recorded honor which need no adventitious lustre.* 



* Grigsby's Convention of Va. of '76 ; Martin's Hist, of N. C, ii. 372 ; Foote's 
Sketches of N. C. ; Hawks' Lecture, in Revolut. Hist, of N. C. President Swain, 
in a lecture before the Historical Society of the University of North Carolina, 
referring to this subject, evidently considers the resolutions of the thirtieth of 
May as the Mecklenburg Declaration. [Revolut. Hist, of N. G , 101.) Mr. Ban- 
croft takes the same view. 



CHAPTER LXXXIII. 



Congress — Dunmore offers the Olive Branch — New Commotions — Dunmore re- 
tires — Courts closed — Correspondence between Dunmore and Assembly — 
Washington, Commander-in-chief — Proceedings at Williamsburg — Proceedings 
in Congress — Washington at Cambridge — Lady Dunmore. 

The second congress assembled on the 10th day of May, 
1775, in the State House, Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Pey- 
ton Randolph was again elected president, but finding it necessary 
to return to Virginia to perforin the duties of speaker, was suc- 
ceeded by the well-tried patriot, John Hancock. Many of the 
leading members, including Washington, still hoped for reconcilia- 
tion with the mother country, and few as yet avowed themselves 
in favor of independence. But while the congress were pacific 
in theory, they were revolutionary in action. A second petition 
to the king was adopted ; but, at the same time, a federal union 
was organized, and the executive power vested in a council of 
twelve. Measures were taken for enlisting troops, erecting forts, 
providing military stores, and issuing a paper currency. Massa- 
chusetts was advised to form an internal government for herself. 
Washington was chairman of the military committees, and the 
regulations of the army and defensive measures were mostly de- 
vised by him. 

Shortly after the affair of the gunpowder, the public agitations 
were again quieted upon the reception of Lord North's concilia- 
tory proposition, commonly called the "Olive Branch;" and Dun- 
more convened the burgesses, and Lady Dunmore and her family 
returned (to the great satisfaction of the people) from the Fowey, 
where they had taken refuge during these disturbances, to the 
palace. The assembly meeting on the first day of June, the 
governor presented Lord North's proposition. The council's 
answer was satisfactory; but before the burgesses could reply, a 
(618) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 619 

new explosion occurred. Upon Henry's recent approach toward 
Williamsburg some of the inhabitants, to the great offence of the 
graver citizens, had taken possession of a few of the guns re- 
maining in the magazine. On the night of June the fifth a num- 
ber of persons having assembled there to furnish themselves with 
arms, some of them were wounded by spring-guns placed there 
by order of the governor. Besides this, some barrels of powder 
were found buried in the magazine, to be used, it was suspected, 
as a mine when occasion should offer. Early on the next morn- 
ing Lord Dunmore, with his family, escaped from Williamsburg 
to return no more, and took shelter on board of the Fowey, 
leaving behind him a message to the house, ascribing his depar- 
ture to apprehensions of personal danger, and declaring his will- 
ingness to co-operate with the assembly in the public business. 
That body, by a deputation, requested him to return to the 
palace, assuring him that they would unite in whatever measures 
might be necessary for the protection of him and his family. 
Dunmore in reply complained of the inimical spirit of the bur- 
gesses toward him, of the countenance which they had given to 
the disorderly proceedings of the people, of his majesty's maga- 
zine having been broken open and rifled in the presence of mem- 
bers of the house; he further said that while some endeavors had 
been made by the committee of the house to prevail upon the 
people to restore the arms, no steps had been taken to bring the 
offenders to justice; that a body of men had assembled at Wil- 
liamsburg for the purpose of attacking the king's troops, and that 
guards had been mounted under false pretences. He exhorted 
them to return to their constitutional duty ; to open the courts of 
justice; to disband the independent companies; and to put an 
end to the persecutions of his majesty's loyal subjects. 

The governor at the same time communicated papers contain- 
ing terms upon which a reconciliation might take place — placing 
his return upon the condition of their acceptance of the " Olive 
Branch." The assembly in their reply, composed by Mr. Jeffer- 
son, declared that next to the preservation of liberty, a recon- 
ciliation would be the greatest of all human blessings; but that 
they could not consent to the proposed terms. Leaving the 
determination of these disputes to the wisdom of congress, for 



620 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

themselves they avowed that they had exhausted every means for 
obtaining redress; they had remonstrated to parliament, and 
parliament had only added new oppressions to the old; they had 
wearied the king with petitions which he had not deigned to 
answer; they had appealed to the native honor and justice of the 
British nation, but their efforts in favor of the colonies had as yet 
proved ineffectual. Nothing remained but to commit their cause 
to the even-handed justice of Him who doeth no wrong, "earn- 
estly beseeching him to illuminate the counsels and prosper the 
endeavors of those to whom America hath confided her hopes, 
that through their wise direction we may again see re-united the 
blessings of liberty and property, and the most permanent har- 
mony with Great Britain." 

The courts of justice upon Dunmore's flight had been closed, 
the general court refusing to transact business, under the pretext 
that the fees of officers could not be legally taxed without an act 
of assembly — the real ground being, it is said, the desire of 
bringing about an independent meeting of that body, and of pro- 
tecting debtors against suits, principally foreign. 

In another correspondence with the governor, the assembly 
requested him to give an order for the return of the arms ; but 
this he refused to do, alleging that they belonged to the king. 
They also complained of being compelled to communicate with 
his excellency on board of one of his majesty's armed ships, and 
at the distance of twelve miles from their usual place of meeting. 
His lordship laid the whole responsibility of these inconveniences 
upon the disorders that had driven him from the seat of govern- 
ment, and required the house to attend him on board the Fowey 
for the purpose of obtaining his signature to bills. Some of the 
burgesses were disposed to acquiesce in the proposed arrange- 
ment ; but it was rejected upon a member's relating iEsop's fable 
of the sick lion and the fox. The assembly declared the gover- 
nor's message a high breach of the rights and privileges of the 
house; they advised the people of Virginia to prepare for the 
preservation of their property, their rights, and their liberties. 
It was also resolved unanimously that "we do and will bear faith 
and true allegiance to our most gracious sovereign George the 
Third, our only lawful and rightful king; and that we will at all 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 621 

times, to the utmost of our power, and at the risk of our lives and 
property, maintain and defend his government in this colony, as 
founded on the established laws and principles of the constitu- 
tion." They furthermore unanimously declared their earnest 
desire to preserve and strengthen the bands of amity with their 
fellow-subjects of Great Britain. 

On the fourteenth day of June, George Washington, upon the 
nomination of Mr. Thomas Johnson, of Maryland, was unani- 
mously elected by the congress, commander-in-chief of the armies 
of the United Colonies. John Adams, of Massachusetts, the 
eloquent and indomitable advocate of independence, had, on a 
previous occasion, recommended him for the post, as "a gentleman, 
whose skill and experience as an officer, whose independent for- 
tune, great talents, and excellent universal character, would com- 
mand the approbation of all America, and unite the cordial exer- 
tions of all the colonies better than any other person in the union." 
Mr. Adams had discovered that the preference of the Southern 
members for Washington was very strong. The pay of the 
commander-in-chief of the continental army was fixed at the sum 
of five hundred dollars a month. Washington, impressed with a 
profound sense of the arduous responsibility of the trust, while 
he gratefully accepted it, declared at the same time that he did 
not think himself equal to it. He declined all compensation for 
his services, and made known his intention to keep an account of 
his expenses, which he should rely on congress to discharge. A 
fac-simile copy of his account, published in recent times, attests 
the fidelity with which he performed this engagement. It is 
remarkable that while the Southern members in general preferred 
him, among those, who at the first suggestion of his name by Mr. 
Adams, were opposed to his appointment, were several of the 
Virginia delegates, and Mr. Pendleton, in particular, was abso- 
lutely against it ; but upon further conference and reflection all 
objection was withdrawn. Four major-generals were appointed, 
Ward of Massachusetts, Charles Lee, an Englishman, Schuyler, 
of New York, and Putnam, of Connecticut. In compliance with 
General Washington's request, his old comrade, Major Horatio 
Gates, then on his estate' in Virginia, was appointed adjutant- 
general. Washington was likewise warmly in favor of the 



622 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

appointment of General Charles Lee; yet not without misgivings 
as to his violent temper. 

The Shawnee hostages had disappeared at the time with tho 
governor; and George Washington, Thomas Walker, James 
Wood, Andrew Lewis, John Walker, and Adam Stephen were 
appointed commissioners to ratify a treaty with that tribe. It 
was determined that Lord Dunmore had voluntarily abdicated tho 
post of governor, and that the president of the council should 
discharge the duties. The abdication was, no doubt, as "volun- 
tary" as that of James the Second. The burgesses adjourned 
to the twelfth of October, and were summoned to meet in con- 
vention on the seventeenth of July.* It was on this occasion 
that Richard Henry Lee, standing on the 17th of June, 1775, 
with two other burgesses, in the portico of the capitol, inscribed 
with his pencil, on a pillar, these lines, — 

'When shall we three meet again, 
In thunder, lightning, and in rain ? 
AVhen the hurlyburly's done, 
"When the battle's lost and won^i 

On the twenty-fourth the arms were removed from the palace, 
and lodged in the magazine of which Dr. Bland had the charge. 
Among those engaged in removing them were Theodorick Bland, 
Jr., Richard Kidder Meade, Benjamin Harrison, of Berkley, 
George Nicholas, Harrison Randolph, and James Monroe. 

On the twenty-sixth of June Mr. Jefferson was added to a 
committee of congress appointed to draw up a declaration of the 
grounds of taking up arms. He prepared one, but it proving too 
strong for Mr. Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, he was indulged in 
preparing a far tamer statement, which was accepted by congress. 
Yet disgust at its humility was general, and Mr. Dickinson's 
delight at its passage was the only circumstance which reconciled 
them to it. The vote being passed, although farther observation 
on it was out of order, Dickinson could not refrain from rising 
and expressing his satisfaction, and concluded by saying: " There 
is but one word, Mr. President, in the paper which I disapprove, 

* Williamsburg invited the assistance of an additional volunteer force to guard 
the town. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. G23 

and that is the word congress." On which Benjamin Harrison 
rose and said: " There is but one word, Mr. President, of which 
I approve, and that is the word congress." 

The commander-in-chief received his commission from the 
president of congress on the twentieth of June, and on the fol- 
lowing day set out for Boston on horseback, accompanied by 
General Lee, General Schuyler, and an escort of Philadelphia 
cavalry. They had proceeded about twenty miles, when they 
were met by an express bringing intelligence of the battle of 
Bunker's Hill. Amid cheers and the thunder of cannon he 
reached the headquarters of the army at Cambridge, on the 
second of July, and on the third assumed the command. The 
future was full of difficulty and of danger; but he confided in 
that Divine Providence which wisely orders human affairs. 

Late in June the Magdalen sailed from York with Lady Dun- 
more, and the rest of the governor's family, bound for England. 
The Magdalen was convoyed down the York and across the bay, 
by the Fowey. This oft-mentioned old twenty-gun man-of-war 
was shortly afterwards relieved by the Mercury, and sailed with 
Captain Foy on board for Boston. 

Dunmore issued a proclamation commanding all subjects on 
their allegiance, to repair to his standard. 



CHAPTER LXXXIV. 

17V5. 

Dunmore at Portsmouth — Convention — Committee of Safety — Carrington, Read, 
Cabell — Henry, Colonel and Commander-in-chief — Georgo Mason — Miscella- 
neous Affairs — Death of Peyton Randolph — The Randolphs of Virginia. 

Dunmore's domestics now abandoned the palace and removed 
to Porto Bello, his country-seat, about six miles below Williams- 
burg. The fugitive governor took up his station at Portsmouth. 

On Monday, July the 17th, 1775, the convention met at Rich- 
mond. Measures were taken for raising two regiments of regular 
troops for one year, and two companies for the protection of the 
western frontier, and to divide the colony into sixteen districts, 
and to exercise the militia as minute-men, so as to be ready for 
service at a moment's warning. At the instance of Richard 
Bland an inquiry was made into certain charges reflecting on 
his patriotism; and his innocence was triumphantly vindicated. 
Although he had resisted extreme measures, yet when the crisis 
came, and the rupture took place, he was behind none in patriotic 
ardor and devotion to the common cause. A minister was impli- 
cated in propagating the charges against him. 

A committee of safety was organized to take charge of the 
executive duties of the colony ; it consisted of eleven gentlemen : 
Edmund Pendleton, George Mason, John Page, Richard Bland, 
Thomas Ludwell Lee, Paul Carrington, Dudley Digges, William 
Cabell, Carter Braxton, James Mercer, and John Tabb. 

Paul Carrington, the ancestor of those bearing that name in Vir- 
ginia, and his wife, of the Heningham family, emigrated from Ire- 
land to Barbadoes. He died early in the eighteenth century, and 
left a widow and numerous children. The youngest, George, about 
the year 1727, came to Virginia with the family of Joseph Mayo, 
a Barbadoes merchant, who settled at Powhatan, the former seat 
of the chief of that name, and young Carrington lived with him 
(624) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 625 

in the capacity of storekeeper. About 1732 he married Anne, 
daughter of William Mayo, of Goochland, brother of Joseph, and 
went to reside on Willis's Creek, in what is now Cumberland 
County. Paul Carrington, eldest child of this marriage, married, 
in 1755, Margaret, daughter of Colonel Clement Read, of Bushy 
Forest, clerk of the court of Lunenburg, now Charlotte. Young 
Carrington, having attained a practical knowledge of the law in 
the clerk's office, soon acquired an extensive practice. He was a 
burgess from Charlotte in 1765, and appears to have voted 
against Henry's resolutions. He continued to be a member of 
the house down to the time of the Revolution; was a member of 
the association of 1670, and in 1774 of the first convention; 
and also of those of 1775 and 1776. In the latter he voted for 
the resolution instructing the delegates in congress to propose 
independence, and was a member of the committee which reported 
the bill of rights and the constitution. *He was subsequently a 
judge of the general court and of the court of appeals, and a 
member of the convention of 1788. Three of his sons served in the 
army of Revolution: George, lieutenant in Lee's legion; Paul, 
who was at the battles of Guilford and Greenspring; and Cle- 
ment, who was wounded in the battle of Eutaw Springs. Paul 
Carrington, member of the committee of safety, was upwards of 
six feet in stature, his features prominent, with bright blue eyes, 
and sandy hair. His seat was Mulberry Hill, on the banks of 
the Staunton.* He died at the age of eighty-five, having sur- 
vived all the early Virginia patriots of the revolutionary era. 

Edward Carrington, his younger brother, was a valued officer 
during the revolutionary war, and quartermaster-general for the 
Southern army under Greene. 

Colonel Clement Read, father of Mrs. Paul Carrington, was 
born in Virginia, (1707,) his ancestors having, as is supposed, 
come over shortly after the Restoration, being probably of the 
Cromwellian party. Early bereft of his father, he was educated 
at William and Mary under the guardianship of John Robinson, 
of Spotsylvania, president of the council. In 1730 Mr. Read 
was married to Mary, only daughter of William Hill, an officer 

* Foote's Sketches of Va., second series, 575; Grigsby's Convention of '76. 

40 



626 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

in the British navy, second son of the Marquis of Lansdowne. 
This William Hill had married the only daughter of Governor 
Jennings, and resided in what was then Isle of Wight County, 
now Brunswick. 

Colonel Isaac Read, eldest son of Clement Read, was a member 
of the conventions of 1774 and 1775, co-operating with Henry 
and Jefferson. He received in June, 1776, a commission as 
lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Virginia Regiment, but died not 
long after at Philadelphia, owing to exposure in the public ser- 
vice. Thomas Read, younger brother of Isaac, was a supporter 
of the views of Henry and Jefferson, and a member of the con- 
vention of 1776.* An accomplished gentleman, he retained the 
costume and manners of a former day. 

Dr. William Cabell, head of the family of that name in Vir- 
ginia, emigrated from Wiltshire, England, about 1720, and settled 
in what is now Nelson County. He had been a surgeon in the 
English navy ; was a man of letters and science ; in his profes- 
sion well-skilled and successful ; sagacious in business ; of a hu- 
morous fancy; and fond of wild sports. He died in 1774 at an 
advanced age, leaving one daughter and four sons; of these, 
Joseph Cabell was a burgess in 1769 and 1770, and member of 
the convention in 1775. John Cabell was a member of the same, 
and of the convention of 1776. Nicholas Cabell served under 
La Fayette, and was also in political life. William Cabell, the 
eldest brother, was wise in council, energetic and fearless in 
action, and widely influential in his own region. He was fond of 
rural sports, and an expert horseman. His face was of the 
Roman cast. Tall, of a fine person, and commanding presence, he 
exhibited the dignified simplicity of the Virginia gentleman of 
the old school. He was a tobacco-planter, and his extensive and 
well-ordered plantations, besides the labors of agriculture, pre- 
sented a scene of industry, where the various handicrafts were 
carried on by his own blacksmiths, carpenters, weavers, and shoe- 
makers. Colonel Cabell was systematic in business, and of 
generous hospitality. He was a member of the assembly in 
1769, and a signer of the association. He voted, in 1775, 

* Foote's Sketches, second series, 573 ; Grigsby's Convention of '76. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 627 

against Henry's resolutions, preferring the scheme of a regular 
army presented by Colonel Nicholas.* Colonel Samuel J. 
Cabell, who was at the commencement of the Revolution a stu- 
dent of college, left it, and joined the first armed corps raised in 
Virginia, and soon attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the 
continental army. He was made a prisoner at the surrender of 
Charleston in 1780, and so remained till the close of the war. 
He was afterwards a member of congress, and died at his seat in 
Nelson County, in 1818, aged 61. 

Patrick Henry was elected, in August, colonel of the first 
regiment and commander of all the forces raised and to be raised 
for the defence of the colony. William Woodford, of Caroline 
County, who had served meritoriously in the French and Indian 
war, was appointed to the command of the second regiment. A 
strong effort was made to elect Colonel Hugh Mercer, of 
Fredericksburg, to the command of the first regiment, and on the 
first ballot he received a plurality of one vote ; but the question 
being narrowed down between him and Mr. Henry, the latter was 
elected. 

The expense of the late Indian war was estimated at ,£150,000; 
Virginia's quota of the charge of the continental army .£150,000 ; 
the charge of the two new regiments, and the minute-men, and 
other items of public expenditure, made a sum of upwards of 
£500,000. George Wythe was elected member of congress in 
the place of Washington, appointed commander-in-chief. When 
the delegates were chosen for the ensuing congress, Mr. Mason 
would have been elected but that he declared that he could not 
possibly attend. Upon the resignation of the aged Colonel 
Richard Bland, a day or two thereafter, a party headed by Colonel 
Henry, Mr. Jefferson, and Colonel Paul Carrington, appeared 
(U'termined to elect Colonel Mason at all events. In consequence 
of this, just before the ballot was taken, he found himself con- 
strained to make known the grounds of his refusal; "in doing 
which," he says, "I felt myself more distressed than ever I was 
in my life, especially when I saw tears run down the president's 
(Randolph's) cheeks." The cause of Mr. Mason's declining to 

* Va. Hist. Reg., iii. 44 and 107; Grigsby's Convention of '76. 



628 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

serve was the recent death of his wife, leaving a large family of 
children. Mr. Mason nominated Colonel Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
who was elected. Mr. Mason was, nevertheless, as has been 
seen, made a member of the committee of safety, which service 
was even more inconvenient to him than that of delegate to con- 
gress. But upon his begging permission to resign, he was 
answered by a unanimous "no." The staif officers of the First 
Regiment, under Colonel Henry, were Lieutenant-Colonel Chris- 
tian and Major Eppes; and in the Second Regiment, under 
Colonel Woodford, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Scott and Major 
Alexander Spotswood. The convention passed ordinances for 
raising money and imposing taxes, for furnishing arms and the 
procuring of saltpetre, lead, and sulphur, and for encouraging 
the manufacture of gunpowder; for regulating the elections 
of delegates ; and for establishing a general test of fidelity to the 
country. The Maryland Convention not concurring in the reso- 
lution prohibiting the export of provisions, it was rescinded, and 
the ports were consequently kept open till the tenth of Septem- 
ber. The merchants, natives of Great Britain, mostly Scotch, 
resident in Virginia, petitioned the convention to prescribe some 
rule of conduct in their business during the present crisis of affairs, 
and were allowed to remain neutral. The committee of safety 
met for the first time toward the end of August. At the begin- 
ning of the session of the convention, resolutions were passed by 
way of recommendations for the people; but afterwards ordi- 
nances were enacted on all matters of importance with the 
formalities of a bill, passing through three readings. 

In September Colonel Henry selected an encampment in the 
rear of the College of William and Mary. The recruits, regular 
and minute-men, poured rapidly into Williamsburg. In October 
Matthew Phripp, a Virginian, in whom important trusts had been 
confided, proving a traitor, went on board of one of Dunmore's 
vessels. Phripp's son likewise deserted. Virginia contrived to 
import some powder at this juncture. The people became dissat- 
isfied at the scarcity of salt, the importation of which was pro- 
hibited by the articles of association; but it would hardly have 
been possible to import it then, even if allowed by law, Virginia 
not having one armed vessel to protect her trade. Some persons 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 629 

began to manufacture it by evaporating sea-water in pans. The 
non-importation afforded a new incentive to industry and inven- 
tion, threw the people upon their own resources, and taught them 
self-denial, and how to live within themselves. They made less 
tobacco, and applied themselves more to domestic manufactures. 

On the 22d of this month, 1775, died suddenly of an apoplexy, 
at Philadelphia, the able and virtuous Peyton Randolph, presi- 
dent of congress, aged fifty-two years, descended from a family 
long noted in Virginia for its wealth, talents, and influence; 
he was the second son of Sir John Randolph, and Susan 
Beverley, his wife. Peyton Randolph, being bred to the law, 
was, in 1748, appointed king's attorney for the colony, being 
then but twenty-four years of age. He succeeded Speaker 
Robinson in the chair of the house of burgesses in 1766, and 
continued to preside over that body until it was superseded by 
the conventions. He was made, in 1773, a member of the com- 
mittee of correspondence, and was at its head. In March, 1774, 
he was unanimously chosen president of the first convention of 
Virginia. In August he was appointed by the convention one of 
the delegates to the congress which assembled at Philadelphia in 
September, and was unanimously elected president of it. In 
person he was tall and stately; in manner grave and of senato- 
rial dignity; at home generous and hospitable. As a lawyer 
sound and accurate; in public life of excellent judgment, large 
experience, and incorruptible integrity.* He lies buried in the 
chapel of William and Mary. 

The progenitor of the Randolphs was William of Warwick- 
shire, or as some say, of Yorkshire, England, who came over to 
Virginia probably between 1665 and 1675, poor, it is said. He 
accumulated a large estate, and became a member of the house 
of burgesses and of the council. He appears to have been inti- 
mate with the first Colonel William Byrd, and well acquainted 
with Lady Berkley. He settled at Turkey Island on the James 
River. He married Mary Isham, of Bermuda Hundred, who 
was descended from an ancient family in Northamptonshire. 
Several of their sons were men of distinction: William was 

* Gvigsby's Convention of Va. of '76. 



630 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

member of the council, and treasurer; Isham a member of the 
house of burgesses from Goochland, (1740,) and adjutant-general; 
Richard was burgess for Henrico, and succeeded his brother as 
treasurer. Sir John, sixth son of the first William, was clerk, 
speaker, treasurer, and attorney-general. He died in March, 
1737, aged forty-four, and lies buried in the chapel of William 
and Mary.* Peter, son of the second William Randolph, was 
clerk, and attorney-general. Peyton, son of Sir John, was 
attorney-general, speaker of the house of burgesses, and presi- 
dent of the first congress. John, brother of Peyton, was attor- 
ney-general, a votary of pleasure; of brilliant talents; he sided 
with Duninore, withdrew from Virginia with him, and died in 
London, in January, 1784, aged fifty-six. He lies buried in the 
chapel of William and Mary. Thomas Mann Randolph, great 
grandson of the first William, was member of the Virginia conven- 
tion of 1775, from Goochland. Beverley Randolph was member 
of assembly from Cumberland during the Revolution, and Gover- 
nor of the State of Virginia. Edmund Randolph, (son of John, 
the attorney-general,) said to have been disinherited by his father 
for refusing to adhere to the royal cause, was aid-de-camp to 
General Washington, member of the convention of 1776, judge 
of the admiralty court, member of the congress of the con- 
federation, and of the general convention that framed the consti- 
tution of the United States, and of the Virginia convention that 
ratified it, Governor of Virginia, Attorney- General of the United 
States, and Secretary of State. Robert Randolph, son of Peter, 
Richard Randolph, grandson of Peter, and David Meade Ran- 
dolph, sons of the second Richard, were cavalry officers in the 
war of the Revolution. David Meade Randolph was United 
States Marshal for Virginia. John Randolph, of Roanoke, the 
orator, was grandson of the first Richard. Thomas Mann Ran- 
dolph, Jr., was member of the legislature of Virginia, and of 
congress, and Governor of Virginia. Richard Bland, of the old 
congress, Thomas Jefferson, Theodorick Bland, Jr., Richard 
Henry Lee, Arthur Lee, and Francis Lightfoot Lee, William 



* A small work on gardening, printed at Petersburg, in 1807, is attributed to 
him. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 631 

Stith, the historian, and Thomas Marshall, father of the chief 
justice, were all descended from William Randolph, of Turkey 
Island. 

Jane Boiling, great granddaughter of Pocahontas, married 
Richard Randolph, of Curies. John Randolph, Sr., the seventh 
child of that marriage, married Frances Bland, and John Ran- 
dolph, of Roanoke, the orator, was one of the children of this 
union. 

The members of the numerous family of the Randolphs in 
several instances adopted the names of their seats for the pur- 
pose of distinction, as Thomas of Tuckahoe, Isham of Dunge- 
ness, Richard of Curies, John of Roanoke. The following were 
seats of the Randolphs on the James River: Tuckahoe, Chats- 
worth, "Wilton, Varina, Curies, Bremo, and Turkey Island. 



CHAPTER LXXXV. 



Dunmore's War — Captain Squires — Woodford sent against Dunmore — Woodford 
and Henry — Affairs at Great Bridge — Battle of Great Bridge — Howe assumes 
Command — Indignity offered Henry — Committee of Safety — Pendleton — Howe 
occupies Norfolk. 

Dunmore in the meanwhile had rallied a band of tories, run- 
away negroes, and British soldiers, and collected a naval force, 
and was carrying on a petty warfare. Captain Squires, of his 
majesty's sloop Otter, during the summer cruised in the James 
and York, plundering the inhabitants and carrying off slaves. 
Early in September a tender laden with stores, being driven ashore 
near Hampton, Squires (who happened to be in her) and most of 
the crew escaped. The sloop was burnt by the inhabitants. 
Squires in retaliation threatening Hampton, Major Innes, with a 
hundred men, was sent down from Williamsburg to defend it. 
Squires in the latter part of October appeared near Hampton 
with several vessels, and threatened to land and burn the town. 
It was defended by a company of regulars under Captain George 
Nicholas, a company of minute-men, and some militia. Upon 
Squires attempting to land a skirmish ensued, and the enemy was 
driven off with some loss. Squires' party returning on the next 
day, burnt down a house belonging to a Mr. Cooper. Intelli- 
gence of this affair having reached Williamsburg, a company of 
riflemen was sent to Hampton, and Colonel Woodford was des- 
patched to take command there. Upon their arrival on the 
next morning, Squires began to fire upon the town, but was again 
compelled to retire. These petty hostilities were the subject of 
humorous remark in the Virginia Gf-azette.* 



* John Banister proposing to turn his saw-mill at Petersburg into a powder- 
mill, the convention ordered saltpetre and sulj^hur to be sent there for him. 

(632) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 633 

Dunmore, on the 7th of November, 1775, proclaimed martial- 
law, summoned all persons capable of bearing arms to his stan- 
dard, on penalty of being proclaimed traitors, and offered freedom 
to all servants and slaves who should join him. He had now the 
ascendency in the country around Norfolk, which abounded in 
tories. The committee of safety despatched Woodford with his 
regiment and two hundred minute-men, amounting in all to ei"dit 
hundred men, with orders to cross the James River at Sandy 
Point and go in pursuit of Dunmore. Colonel Henry had been 
desirous to be employed in this service, and, it was said, solicited 
it, but the committee of safety refused, and amid such exciting 
events he found himself, eager as he was for action, and ardent 
and impetuous as was his nature, still compelled to sit down in- 
active in Williamsburg, where he had been quartered since Sep- 
tember. At length after the lapse of nearly another month of 
tedious inaction, during which he received no regular communica- 
tions from Colonel Woodford, Colonel Henry wrote to him thus : 
"Not hearing of any despatch from you for a long time, I can no 
longer forbear sending to know your situation and what has 
occurred?" Woodford on the next day replied from the Great 
Bridge, near Norfolk, and said: "When joined I shall always 
esteem myself immediately under your command, and will obey 
accordingly, but when sent to command a separate and distinct 
corps, under the immediate instructions of the committee of safety, 
whenever that body, or the honorable convention is sitting, I look 
upon it as my indispensable duty to address my intelligence to 
them as the supreme power in this colony." Thus Colonel Henry's 
chagrin at not being permitted to march himself against Dun- 
more was aggravated by Colonel Woodford's declining, while de- 
tached, to acknowledge his superiority in command. Woodford, 
upon approaching Dunmore, found that he had entrenched him- 
self on the north side of the Elizabeth River, at the Great Bridge, 
about twenty miles from Norfolk. Judge Marshall says that it 
was necessary for the Provincials to cross it in order to reach 



Richard Bland advised that saltpetre should be made at Appomattox warehouses, 
iiurg,) fearing that supineness possessed all ranks, and offering to contri- 
bute toward that useful work. 



634 HISTORY OP THE COLONY AND 

Norfolk, but Thomas Ludwell Lee, writing at the time, says that 
there were other ways by which to pass to Norfolk. " Our army 
has been for some time arrested in its march to Norfolk by a 
redoubt, or stockade, or hog-pen, as they call it here, by way of 
derision, at the end of this bridge. Though, by the way, this 
hog-pen seems filled with a parcel of wild boars, which we appear 
not over fond to meddle with." Some of the more eager patriots 
were apprehensive that Woodford would be amused at that post 
until Dunmore should finish his fortifications at Norfolk, where 
he was now entrenching and mounting cannon, some hundreds of 
negroes being employed in the work. Added to this the advanced 
season of the year and the hourly expectation of the enemy's 
receiving a re-enforcement from St. Augustine, as was known by 
intercepted intelligence, made a bold movement necessary, "while 
we walk too cautiously in the road of prudence." 

Dunmore's power on land was confined to the counties of Nor- 
folk and Princess Anne; his recent course had united the colony 
with few exceptions against him, and if the ministry had ran- 
sacked the whole world for the person of all others the best fitted 
to ruin their cause, they could not have found a fitter agent than 
Lord Dunmore. He had just now proclaimed liberty to the 
slaves, and declared martial-law. 

It was believed that one frigate could capture the whole of his 
fleet, and other vessels laden with the floating property of tories, 
of enormous value. John Page wished earnestly for a few armed 
vessels to keep possession of the rivers, the arteries of commerce, 
at the least the upper parts of them. While five thousand men 
could not defend so exposed a coast against the depredations of 
Dunmore's fleet, yet five hundred in armed vessels could easily 
take the fleet. But a majority of the committee of safety and of 
the convention, held it in vain for Virginia then to attempt any 
thing by water.* 

Dunmore had erected a small fort on an oasis surrounded by a 
morass, not far from the Dismal Swamp, accessible on either side 
only by a long causeway. Woodford encamped within cannon- 

* Lee Papers, S. Lit. Messr., 1858, p. 254. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 635 

shot of this post, in mud and mire, in a village at the southern 
end of the causeway, across which he threw up a breast-work, but 
being destitute of artillery he did not attack the fort. After a 
few days Dunmore, hearing by a servant lad, who had deserted 
from Woodford's camp, that his force did not exceed three hun- 
dred men, mustered his whole strength and despatched them in 
the night to the fort, with orders to force the breast-works early 
next morning, or die in the attempt. On the 9th of December, 
1775, a little before sunrise, Captain Fordyce, at* the head of 
sixty grenadiers, who six abreast led the column, advanced along 
the causeway. Colonel Bullet first discovered the enemy, and 
the alarm being given in Woodford's camp, a small guard at the 
breast-works began the fire, others hastened from their tents, and 
regardless of order, kept up a fire on the head of the column. 
Fordyce, though received so warmly in front, and flanked by a 
party posted on a rising ground to his right, rallied his men, and 
marched up within twenty yards of the breast- work, when he fell 
pierced with bullets. His followers now retreated, and at this 
juncture Colonel Woodford arrived, and directed a pursuit of the 
enemy, who were galled by a handful of riflemen under Colonel 
Stephen, but found protection under cover of the guns of the fort. 
Woodford declined attempting to storm the works, although 
strongly urged to it by the bold and ardent Bullet and the enthu- 
siastic wishes of the troops. 

In the battle of the Great Bridge every grenadier was killed, 
and the enemy's killed and wounded amounted to about one hun- 
dred. Four officers were killed, one wounded and made prisoner. 
The affair has been styled "a Bunker Hill in miniature:" but 
there the loss was very heavy on both sides ; whereas here Wood- 
ford's troops suffered no loss. 

John Marshall, afterwards chief justice, was in this expedition.* 
Richard Kidder Meade, father of Bishop Meade, was also present 
at the affair of the Great Bridge. This was the first scene of 
revolutionary bloodshed in Virginia. On the night following this 



* An account of his visit to Yorktown shortly after the battle, and his court- 
ship, by John Eston Cooke, is to be found in Histox-ical Magazine for June, 1859. 



686 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

action the royalists evacuated the fort, and Dunmore took refuge 
on board of his fleet. Colonel Howe, with five or six hundred 
North Carolina troops, now joined Woodford, and assumed com- 
mand at the Great Bridge, with the consent of Woodford, who 
yielded to the seniority of his commission. Colonel Henry now 
saw the colonel of the second Virginia regiment, who had refused 
to acknowledge his command, submitting himself to an officer of 
no higher rank, and of another colony. He found himself, 
although invested with the title of commander-in-chief, yet 
virtually superseded and reduced to the mere shadow of a name. 
To nullify his superiority of command the committee had only to 
detach his subordinate officers. 

On the thirteenth of December a member of the convention 
wrote to Colonel Woodford: "I have talked with Colonel Henry 
about this matter; he thinks he has been ill-treated, and insists 
the officers under his command shall submit to his orders:" and 
again, "A commander or general, I suppose, will be sent us by 
the congress, as it is expected our troops will be upon continental 
pay." Mr. Pendleton, chairman of the committee, in a letter 
dated December the twenty-fourth, and addressed to Colonel 
Woodford, said : " The field-officers to each regiment will be 
named here and recommended to congress ; in case our army is 
taken into continental pay, they will send commissions. A 
general officer will be chosen there, I doubt not, and sent us ; with 
that matter I hope we shall not intermeddle, lest it should be 
thought propriety requires our calling, or rather recommending, 
our present officer to that station." It appears that Colonel 
Henry had not owed his military appointment to those members 
of the committee of safety who conducted the correspondence.* 
Mr. Pendleton looked upon the appointment of Henry as an 
"unlucky step." Pendleton and Woodford were both of the 
County of Caroline. 

Late in December, Colonel Henry insisting upon a determina- 
tion of the question thus raised between him and Colonel Wood- 
ford, the committee passed the following resolution : — 

"Resolved, Unanimously, that Colonel Woodford, although 

* Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry, 171. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 637 

acting upon a separate and detached command, ought to corre- 
spond with Colonel Henry, and make returns to him at proper 
times of the state and condition of the forces under his command, 
and also that he is subject to his orders when the convention or 
the committee of safety is not sitting; but that while either of 
these bodies is sitting he is to receive his orders from one of 
them." 

This decision virtually annulled the power of Henry as com- 
mander-in-chief. The clause of the ordinance of convention 
which authorized the committee to direct military movements is 
the following: — 

"And whereas it may be necessary for the public security that 
the forces to be raised by virtue of this ordinance should, as occa- 
sion may require, be marched to different parts of the colony, 
and that the officers should be subject to a proper control, — 

"Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the officers 
and soldiers under such command shall, in all things not other- 
wise particularly provided for by this ordinance and the articles 
established for their regulation, be under the control and subject 
to the order of the general committee of safety."* 

It could hardly be said of Woodford and his men that they 
were marched to a different part of the colony; he and Colonel 
Henry were still in the same quarter of Virginia, and not far 
apart. For so numerous a body as the convention, or even the 
committee of safety, to assume all the functions of the commander- 
in-chief, was incompatible with the unity, secrecy, and prompti- 
tude demanded in the conduct of war. If not, of what advantage 
was the appointment of a commander-in-chief at all? If the 
committee, by such a construction of their powers, could virtually 
annul the authority of the commander-in-chief, he, whose powers 
were at the least as ample as theirs, might, by a like construction, 
have repudiated their authority. The conduct of the committee 
toward Colonel Henry was strongly censured by the people as 
well as the troops, and they imputed it to personal envy.f Those, 
however, who approved of the committee's course, attributed it 
to a want of confidence in Colonel Henry, as deficient in military 

* Journal of the Convention of 1775. j- Wirt's Henry, 178. 



638 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

experience.* Other mortifications were in store for the man of 
the people. 

Shortly after the battle of the Great Bridge the Provincials, 
under Howe, took possession of Norfolk, encamped there in the 
"Town Camp." 



* And perhaps as unduly familiar with the men under his command. As an 
instance of this it is said that he was seen among them with his coat off — a grave 
charge indeed ! 



CHAPTER LXXXVI 



Manufacture of Gunpowder — Norfolk burnt — Dunmore's conduct — Henry re- 
signs — Indignation of troops — Troops at Williamsburg — General Orders. 

On Christmas day, 1775, Benjamin Harrison, Jr., having leave 
of absence from the convention for three days, at the Lower 
Ferry, on Chickahominy River, was conferring with Jacob Rubsa- 
men, in his broken English, in regard to the manufacture of salt- 
petre; he having been sent on by the Virginia delegates in 
congress to superintend the manufacture of gunpowder. Mr. 
Harrison's father and himself were disposed to "be dabbling in 
the saltpetre way." Rubsamen afterwards manufactured much 
saltpetre and powder in Virginia, and was involved in no little 
trouble in the work, and in getting paid for it. 

On the twenty-eighth of December Edmund Pendleton writes 
to Richard Henry Lee : " If the house of Bourbon mean to join us 
it will be soon, lest the progress of the enemy should make our 
connection less valuable by the destruction of our commercial 
cities." 

Dunmore's fleet being distressed for provisions, upon the arrival 
of the Liverpool man-of-war from England, a flag was sent on 
shore to enquire whether the inhabitants would supply his ma- 
jesty's ship? It was answered in the negative; and the ships in 
the harbor being continually annoyed by a fire from the quarter 
of the town lying next the water, Dunmore determined to dis- 
lodge the assailants. Previous notice having been given to the 
inhabitants, January the 1st, 1776, a party of sailors and marines 
landed, and set fire to the nearest houses. The party was covered 
by a cannonade from the Liverpool frigate, two sloops-of-war, 
and the governor's armed ship, the Dunmore. A few were killed 
and wounded on both sides. 

A printer's press had been removed from Norfolk some time 
before this on board the governor's ship, and according to his 

(639) 



640 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

bulletin published after this affair, it was only intended to destroy 
that part of the town next the water. But the provincials, 
strongly prejudiced against the place as a harbor for tories, made 
no attempts to arrest the flames. After four-fifths of the town 
were destroyed, Colonel Howe, who had waited on the convention 
to urge the necessity of completing the destruction, returned with 
orders to that effect, which were immediately carried into execu- 
tion. Thus fell the most populous and flourishing town in Vir- 
ginia. Its rental amounted to $44,000, and the total loss was 
estimated at $1,300,000. It is said that alone of all the civil 
and military leaders of the colony, General Andrew Lewis opposed 
the order for burning Norfolk. 

In February, the North Carolina provincials defeated the 
royalists at Moore's Creek Bridge. This well-timed and vigorous 
blow intimidated the tories, and animated the patriots with new 
ardor. 

Dunmore continued to carry on a predatory warfare on the 
rivers, burning houses and plundering plantations, and had now 
rendered himself the object of general execration. 

During February John Page wrote to Richard Henry Lee: "I 
have been always of your opinion with respect to our present com- 
mander-in-chief. All orders do pass through him, and we really 
wish to be in perfect harmony with him." The convention of 
Virginia having raised six additional regiments, solicited congress 
to take the Virginia troops on continental establishment. That 
bod^, doubtless misled by the intrigues of the same cabal which 
haa already virtually deprived Colonel Henry of his command, 
resolved to take the six new regiments, passing by the first two, 
so as to exclude Colonel Henry from the chief command, to which 
he was best entitled. The convention of Virginia, however, inter- 
posing at this point, remonstrated against the degradation of the 
officers of their first choice, and earnestly requested congress, 
should it adhere to the determination of taking only six regiments 
into continental pay, to allow the two first raised to stand first in 
the new arrangement. This request was nominally agreed to, 
but at the same time when a commission of colonel was forwarded 
to him, commissions of brigadier-general were forwarded to Colo- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 641 

nel Howe and Colonel Andrew Lewis. A commission, dated at 
Philadelphia, February the 13th, 1776, appointing Colonel Henry 
to the command of the first Virginia regiment taken upon the 
continental establishment, was forwarded by congress to the com- 
mittee of safety. 

Colonel Henry felt himself compelled by every sentiment of 
self-respect to refuse it, and immediately resigned that which he 
held from the state. The troops encamped at Williamsburg, upon 
hearing of his resignation, went into mourning, and being under 
arms, waited on him at his lodgings on the last day of February. 
In their address they deplored his withdrawal from the army, 
but applauded his just resentment at "a glaring indignity." 
Colonel Henry in replying said: "This kind testimony of your 
regard to me would have been an ample reward for services much 
greater than those I have had the power to perform." "I leave 
the service, but I leave my heart with you. May God bless you, 
and give you success and safety, and make you the glorious 
instrument of saving our country." In the evening they assem- 
bled tumultuously, and unwilling to serve under any other com- 
mander, demanded their discharge. Colonel Henry felt himself 
obliged to defer his departure a while, and he, who was in the 
following year accused of a desire to make himself dictator, now 
visited the barracks, and employed his eloquence in allaying these 
alarming commotions. 

Washington, in a letter to Joseph Reed, dated March the 
seventh, wrote: "I think my countrymen made a capital mistake 
when they took Henry out of the senate to place him in the field, 
and pity it is that he does not see this, and remove every difficulty 
by a voluntary resignation." Mr. Reed, in his reply, dated at Phila- 
delphia, said to Washington: "We have some accounts from Vir- 
ginia that Colonel Henry has resigned in disgust at not being made 
a general officer ; but it rather gives satisfaction than otherwise, as 
his abilities seem better calculated for the senate than the field." 
In the same letter Mr. Reed wrote: "It is said the Virginians 
arc so alarmed with the idea of independence that they have sent 
Mr. Braxton on purpose to turn the vote of that colony, if any 
question on that subject should come before congress." Mr. 

41 



842 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Reed himself had entertained strong misgivings on the question 
of independence. 

During this month Colonel Henry was addressed by ninety 
officers at Kemp's Landing, at Suffolk, in Colonel Woodford's 
camp, and at Williamsburg. In this address they said: "We 
join with the general voice of the people, and think it our duty 
to make this public declaration of our high respect for your dis- 
tinguished merit. To your vigilance and judgment as a senator 
this united continent bears ample testimony, while she prosecutes 
her steady opposition to those destructive ministerial measures 
which your eloquence first pointed out and taught to resent, and 
your resolution led forward to resist." "We have the fullest con- 
fidence in your abilities and the rectitude of your views; and 
however willing the envious may be to undermine an established 
reputation, we trust the day will come when justice shall prevail, 
and thereby secure you an honorable and happy return to the 
glorious employment of conducting our councils and hazarding 
your life in the defence of your country." The imputation of 
envy was aimed at the committee of safety as a body, or what is 
more probable, at some individual or individuals of it, who were 
believed to be the secret authors of that series of indignities which 
had driven Colonel Henry from military life.* The people re- 
garded the indignities shown to their favorite as an effort to pinion 
the eagle, whose adventurous wing had launched into the storm 
and cuffed the tempestuous clouds, while others sat crouching in 
their conservative nests, mute and thunderstruck. 

In the mean time the troops remained quartered at Williams- 
burg, f In a general order issued in March the soldiers were called 

* Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry, 206. 

f General Orders. — Williamsburg, Headquarters, March l§th, .1776. 

March 23. "The officers are desired to examine strictly into their respective 
companies that no gaming be carried on of any kind whatsoever. When there 
is any leisure time from their duties of the camp, every one will be improving 
himself in the military service, and not pass over in idleness, or business of a 
worse tendency, the peaceable and precious hours now on hand. The officers 
will in every respect attend to the morals of their men, and endeavor to train 
the youths under their particular care, as well in a moral as in a military way 
of life." 

March 27. "The grand squad to turn out at three o'clock on the parade, if 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 643 

upon to devote themselves to their duty, to exert themselves in 
learning the necessary discipline, to respect the persons and pro- 
perty of their fellow-citizens; and the officers were exhorted to 
fit themselves and the men for the high trust of defending the 
property and liberty of their country. 



the weather will permit ; the awkward squad to turn out at seven o'clock in the 
forenoon, likewise at three in the afternoon, and to exercise for two hours each 
time, under the direction of a commissioned officer, sergeant, and corporal, who 
are accountable for any neglect of duty in management of that squad ; those 
captains who have any awkward men, or men without arms, are to apply to the 
commanding officer for an order for such arms in the magazine as will do to ex- 
ercise with, and to be answerable for their return when called for. Captain 
Cabell's company to draw ammunition to-day for the trial of their rifles to- 
morrow, between the hour's of eight and ten in the forenoon. The men are to 
provide a target to-day." 

R. 0. "All the gentlemen cadets* are desired to attend the parade constantly; 
likewise a list of their names, to be given in to the colonel to-morrow forenoon, 
specifying the time of their entering, and with what captain. The colonel has 
thought proper to appoint Matthew Snook as fife-major, and William Croker as 
drum-major; and they are to be obeyed as such, and are to practice the young 
fifers and drummers between the hours of ten and eleven o'clock every day, and 
take care that they perform their several duties with as much exactness as pos- 
sible. The officers and cadets are to give in their names as is directed in the 
foregoing orders. A regimental court-martial to sit at twelve o'clock, for the 
trial of John Hogins, of Captain Massie's company. Captain Johnston, presi- 
dent. Members, Lieutenant Hobson, Lieutenant Burton, Ensign Stokes, Ensi<m 
Armistead. Officer for the day, to-morrow, Captain Cabell. Officers for the 
guard to-morrow, Lieutenant Jones, Lieutenant Garland, Ensign Catlett. Cap- 
tain Ruffin to find one cadet and fourteen privates." Extracted from MS. Orderly 
Book, obligingly lent me by Mr. John M. AVest, of Petersburg. 



* A cadet was a young man serving in the ranks without pay, in the hope of obtaining a commission. 



CHAPTER LXXXVII. 

Patrick Henry, Delegate to Convention — Convention at Williamsburg — Pendleton, 
President — Corbin's Petition — Wormley's Petition — Nelson's Letter urging 
Independence — Braxton's Pamphlet — Delegates in Congress instructed to pro- 
pose Independence — Declaration of Rights — Constitution — Patrick Henry, 
Governor — George Mason — Miscellaneous. 

Immediately upon his return to Hanover, Mr. Henry was 
elected a delegate to the convention which was soon to meet. In 
a letter, dated April twentieth, Richard Henry Lee exhorted him 
to propose a separation from Great Britain.* 

The convention met on the 6th of May, 1776, at Williamsburg. 
Edmund Pendleton was nominated by Richard Bland, for the 
post of president, and the nomination was seconded by Archibald 
Gary; Thomas Ludwell Lee was nominated by Thomas Johnson, 
of Louisa, and seconded by Bartholomew Dandridge. Mr. Lee's 
nomination, made by Mr. Henry's warm supporters, indicates the 
dissatisfaction felt toward Mr. Pendleton. The last mentioned 
gentleman, who was admirably qualified for the place, was 
elected ; by what vote is not known. In his address he reminded 
the convention that the administration of justice, and almost all 
the powers of government, had now been suspended for nearly two 
years; and he called on them to reflect whether they could in 
that situation longer sustain the struggle in which they were 
engaged. Having suggested certain subjects for their considera- 
tion, he exhorted them to be composed, unanimous, and diligent. 

John Goodrich, Jr., a suspected person, was confined, by order 
of the convention, to his room, in Williamsburg, under guard. 
The court of commissioners for Gloucester having found John 
Wilkie guilty of giving intelligence to the enemy, his estate was 



* Convention of '76, p. 8, in note. 

^644) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 645 

confiscated, and Sir John Peyton, Baronet, appointed commis- 
sioner to put the proceeds into the treasury. John Tayloe Cor- 
bin presented a petition setting forth that in October, 1775, a 
time when all America, as well in congress as in conventions, 
was avowing loyalty to the king, he wrote a letter to Charles 
Neilson, Esq., of Urbanna, who was going to Norfolk, in conse- 
quence of which he had been arrested by military warrant, and 
was now confined in the guard-house. The convention ordered 
that for the present he should be confined to his room in Wil- 
liamsburg, under guard. Shortly after he was ordered to be 
confined to the region between the Matapony and the Pamunkey 
in Caroline, and give bond in the penalty of ten thousand pounds. 

Ralph Wormley, in a petition, apologised for a letter which he 
had written to Lord Dunmore, communicating his opinions on the 
state of affairs, and which had excited the indignation of the 
country against him ; declared that he had ever disclaimed par- 
liament's right of taxation over this continent, but that it was his 
misfortune to differ in sentiments from the mode adopted to obtain 
a renunciation of that unconstitutional claim, praying to be 
released from confinement, submitting to the mercy of his coun- 
try, and promising in future to conduct himself in conformity 
with the ordinances of the convention. He was ordered to con- 
fine himself to Berkley County, and that part of his father's 
estate which lay in Frederick, and to give a bond with a penalty 
of ten thousand pounds. 

On the eighth Thomas Nelson, Jr., addressed a letter to a 
member of the convention, in which he says: "Since our con- 
versation, yesterday, my thoughts have been sorely employed on 
the great question, whether independence ought, or ought not, to 
be immediately declared? Having weighed the arguments on 
both sides, I am clearly of opinion that we must, as we value the 
liberties of America, or even her existence, without a moment's 
delay, declare for independence. If my reasons appear weak, 
you will excuse them for the disinterestedness of the author, as I 
may venture to affirm that no man on this continent will sacrifice 
more than myself by the separation." He combats the objection 
that the sentiments of France and Spain should be ascertained 
previously; because there was reason to hope that their senti- 



546 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

ments would be favorable, and because at any rate, in the peril- 
ous situation of the colonies, the hazard must be ventured on.. 
France could not fail to understand that the breaking up of the 
English monopoly of the American trade would enure to her own 
benefit. The fear that France might be diverted from an alliance 
by an offer of partition from Great Britain, appeared chimerical, 
and contrary to the settled policy of the court of Louis the Six- 
teenth. In any case delay in declaring independence would be 
ruinous, as without it the soldiers, disheartened, would abandon 
their colors. Mr. Nelson in conclusion adds: "I can assure you, 
sir, that the spirit of the people, (except a very few in these lower 
parts, whose little blood has been sucked out by mosquitoes,) cry 
out for this declaration. The military in particular, men and 
officers, are outrageous on the subject; and a man of your excel- 
lent discernment need not be told how dangerous it would be in 
our present circumstances to dally with the spirit, or disappoint 
the expectations of the bulk of the people. 

About this time there was published, at Philadelphia, a 
pamphlet, by Carter Braxton, entitled "An Address to the Con- 
vention of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia on the 
subject of Government." It was looked upon as expressing the 
views of "the little junto from whence it proceeded," and was 
denounced in a letter by Richard Henry Lee as exhibiting "con- 
fusion of ideas, aristocratic pride, contradictory reasoning with 
evident ill design." 

On the fifteenth of May Archibald Cary reported, from the 
committee of the whole house, a preamble and resolutions which 
were unanimously adopted. The preamble recited how all the 
efforts of the colonies to bring about a reconciliation with Great 
Britain, consistently with the constitutional rights of America, 
had produced only additional insults and new acts of oppression; 
and it recapitulated these acts. The first resolution instructed 
the Virginia delegates in congress to propose to that body "to 
declare the United Colonies free and independent states;" the 
second ordered the appointment of a committee to prepare "a 
declaration of rights," and a plan of government. The preamble 
and resolutions were drawn up by Edmund Pendleton, offered in 
committee of the whole house by Thomas Nelson, Jr., and sup- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 047 

ported by the eloquence of Patrick Henry.* On the next day 
the resolutions were read to the troops quartered at Williamsburg, 
under command of General Andrew Lewis ; a feu de joie was 
fired amid the acclamations of the people, and the union flag of 
the American States waved from the capitol, and in the evening 
Williamsburg was illuminated. 

Patrick Henry in a letter, dated at Williamsburg, May twen- 
tieth, wrote to Richard Henry Lee: "The grand work of forming 
a constitution for Virginia is now before the convention, where 
your love of equal liberty and your skill in public counsels might 
so eminently serve the cause of your country. Perhaps I'm 
mistaken, but I fear too great a bias to aristocracy prevails 
among the opulent. I own myself a democratic on the plan of 
our admired friend, J. Adams, whose pamphlet I read with great 
pleasure. A performance from Philadelphia is just come here, 

ushered in, I'm told, by a colleague of yours, B , and greatly 

recommended by him. I don't like it. Is the author a whig? 
One or two expressions in the book make me ask. I wish to 
divide you and have you here to animate, by your manly elo- 
quence, the sometimes drooping spirits of our country, and in 
congress to be the ornament of your native country, and the 
vigilant, determined foe of tyranny. To give you colleagues of 
kindred sentiments is my wish. I doubt you have them not at 
present. A confidential account of the matter to Colonel Tom,f 
desiring him to use it according to his discretion, might greatly 
serve the public and vindicate Virginia from suspicions. Vigor, 
animation, and all the powers of mind and body must now be 
summoned and collected together into one grand effort. Modera- 
tion, falsely so called, hath nearly brought on us final ruin. And 
to see those who have so fatally advised us still guiding, or at 
least sharing our public councils, alarms me." J 

There was an apprehension felt by some at this time lest Eng- 
land, in order to prevent France from assisting the colonies, 
should offer to divide them with her. Patrick Henry in the same 

* These facts were stated by Edmund Randolph in his address at the funeral 
of Pendleton. (Grigsbi/s Convention of '76, p. 2U3.) 

f Thomas Nelson, Jr. % S. Lit. Messenger, 1842, p. 2G0. 



648 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

letter wrote to Richard Henry Lee: "Ere this reaches you our 
resolution for separating from Britain will be handed you by 
Colonel Nelson. Your sentiments as to the necessary progress 
of this great affair correspond with mine. For may not France, 
ignorant of the great advantages to her commerce we intend to 
offer, and of the permanency of that separation which is to take 
place, be allured by the partition you mention ? To anticipate, 
therefore, the efforts of the enemy by sending instantly American 
ambassadors to France, seems to me absolutely necessary. Delay 
may bring on us total ruin. But is not a confederacy of our 
states previously necessary?" His comprehensive eye glanced 
from the fisheries of the north to the Mississippi and western 
lands. "Notwithstanding solicitations from every great land 
company to the west, I've refused to join them. I think a 
general confiscation of royal and British property should be 
made: The fruits would be great, and the measure in its utmost 
latitude warranted by the late act of parliament." 

In the convention a committee of thirty-four, Archibald Gary 
being chairman, were appointed to prepare a declaration of rights 
and a plan of government. The declaration was reported and 
adopted on the fifteenth of June, and the plan of government on 
the twenty-ninth, (five days in advance of the declaration of 
independence of the United Colonies,) — both by a unanimous 
vote. The declaration of rights and constitution were draughted 
by George Mason. 

George Mason, first of the family in Virginia, had been a 
member of parliament in England, and, at the breaking out of 
the civil wars, had sided with King Charles the First, although, 
like Falkland, not wholly approving his course, organized a mili- 
tary corps, and fought on the royal side until the overthrow at 
Worcester. After this catastrophe he came over to Virginia and 
landed in Norfolk County, (1651,) and was soon followed by his 
family. He removed to Acohick Creek, on the Potomac. He 
commanded (1676) a volunteer force against the Indians, and in 
the same year represented the County of Stafford in the assem- 
bly, being a colleague of the author of "T. M.'s Account of 
Bacon's Rebellion," who was probably Thomas Matthews, son of 
Samuel Matthews, some time Governor of Virginia. The County 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 649 

of Stafford had been carved out of Westmoreland in the preced- 
ing year, and was so called by Colonel Mason in honor of his 
native county of Staffordshire, England. His eldest son, 
George, married Mary, daughter of Gerard Fowke, of Gunston 
Hall, in that English county. Their eldest son, George Mason, 
third of the name, also lived in Acohick, and lies buried there. 
George Mason, fourth in descent, and eldest son of George, last 
named, married a daughter of Stevens Thomson, of the Middle 
Temple, attorney-general of Virginia in the reign of Queen 
Anne. He resided at Doeg Neck, on the Potomac, then in Staf- 
ford, now in Fairfax, and was* lieutenant and chief commander 
of Stafford. He was drowned by the upsetting of a sail-boat in 
the Potomac. He left two sons and a daughter. One of the 
sons was George, author of the constitution of Virginia, and the 
other, Thomson Mason, a member of the house of burgesses, an 
eminent lawyer, and true patriot. He was elected one of the 
judges of the first general court. He suffered from the gout, 
and one of Governor Tazewell's earliest recollections is the having 
seen him carried into court when laboring under that disease. 
His son, Stevens Thomson Mason, was a member of* the Virginia 
Convention of 1788, and United States Senator, and his son, 
Armistead Thomson Mason, was also a Senator of the United 
States from Virginia. George Mason, fifth of the name, was 
born at Doeg's Neck in 1726; he married Ann Eilbeck, of 
Charles County, Maryland, and built a new mansion on the high 
banks of the Potomac, and called it Gunston Hall. 

George Mason was, in 1776, fifty years of age. His com- 
plexion was swarthy, his face grave, with a radiant dark eye, his 
raven hair sprinkled with gray; his aspect rather foreign; 
nearly six feet in stature, of a large athletic frame, and active 
stcp.f His presence was commanding, his bearing lofty. He 
was fond of hunting and angling. He was a systematic, wealthy, 
and prosperous planter; indifferent to the temptations of political 
ambition; devoting his leisure to study. Mr. Madison pro- 
nounced him the ablest man in debate that he had ever seen, 

* 1719. 

-j- His portrait is preserved, and a copy of it is in the hall of the Historical 
Society in Richmond. 



650 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Although a warm adherent of the house of Hanover, and at the 
first averse to independence, yet he assumed the boldest position 
and maintained it. In the year 1766 he concluded a letter to the 
London merchants, on the repeal of the stamp act, thus: "These 
are the sentiments of a man who spends most of his time in 
retirement, and has seldom meddled in public affairs ; who enjoys 
a moderate but independent fortune, and, content with the bless- 
ings of a private station, equally disregards the smiles and the 
frowns of the great. His pamphlet entitled "Extracts from the 
Virginia Charters, with some Remarks upon them," was consi- 
dered a masterly exposition of the rights of the colonies.* 

Of Mr. Mason's sons, George, the eldest, sixth of the name, 
was captain in the Virginia line of the Revolution, and inherited 
Gunston Hall. The fourth son was the late General John 
Mason, of Analostan Island, near Washington City. The Honora- 
ble James Murray Mason, United States Senator for Virginia, is 
a son of the last named. f 

The preamble to the constitution, containing a recital of wrongs, 
was from the pen of Mr. Jefferson, who was at that time attend- 
ing the session of congress at Philadelphia. J George Mason, 
the author of the first written constitution of a free common- 
wealth ever framed, was pre-eminent in an age§ of great men for 
his extensive information, enlarged views, profound wisdom, and 
the pure simplicity of his republican principles. || As a speaker 
he was devoid of rhetorical grace, but earnest and impressive. 

Immediately upon the adoption of the constitution, the salary of 
the governor was fixed at one thousand pounds per annum, and 
Patrick Henry, Jr., was elected the first republican Governor of 
Virginia, he receiving sixty votes, and Thomas Nelson, Sr., forty- 

* Convention of '76, p. 157 f Ibid., 156, in note. 

| Journal of Convention of 1776; Wirt's Henry, 195; Grigsby's Convention 
of '76, p. 19. 

\ Patrick Henry in a letter to Richard Henry Lee, dated December 18th, 1777, 
quoted in Grigsby's Convention of 1776, p. 142, in note, states that there was 
opposition ; but the vote appears unanimous on the journal. The persons who 
opposed it were known, but were so few they did not think fit to divide the 
house, or contradict the general voice. Ibid., 161, in note. The same persons 
subsequently opposed the confederation. 

II His statue is to Btand on the monument in Richmond. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. G51 

five. Mr. Henry received an address from the two regiments which 
he had recently commanded, congratulating him upon his "unso- 
licited promotion to the highest honors a grateful people can 
bestow," and they declared, as they had been once happy under his 
military command, they hoped for more extensive blessings from 
his civil administration. 

The newly-appointed governor closed his reply by saying: "I 
trust the day will come when I shall make one of those that will 
hail you among the triumphant deliverers of America." The 
first council appointed under the new constitution consisted of 
John Page, Dudley Digges, John Tayloe, John Blair, Benjamin 
Harrison of Berkley, Bartholomew Dandridge, Thomas Nelson, 
Sr., and Charles Carter, of Shirley. Mr. Nelson declining the 
appointment on account of infirm old age, his place was supplied 
by Benjamin Harrison, of Brandon. It is a remarkable instance 
of the vicissitudes of fortune, that "a certain Patrick Henry, 
Jr.," against whom Governor Dunmore had so lately fulminated 
his angry proclamation, now came to be the occupant of the 
palace at Williamsburg as governor and commander-in-chief. 
Although the leaders of the conservative party looked at the 
contest with Great Britain in a very different light from that in 
which it was viewed by the movement and popular party, and 
although the animating motives of the two were so different, yet 
in the face of imminent common danger they conspired with 
extraordinary unanimity in the common cause. So the mainmast 
of a ship of the line, though composed of several pieces banded 
together, is stronger than if made of a single spar.* 

* Extract from Orderly Book: — 

"Williamsburg, May, 14th, 1776. 

" Parole — Liberty. 
" The many applications for furloughs make it necessary for Brigadier- 
General Lewis to mention in orders as improper in our critical situation, and 
hopes that no request of this kind for the future, until circumstances will admit, 
will he made. 

"Officer for day to-morrow, Lieutenant-Colonel McClenahan. Officers for 
guard, Lieutenant Garland, Ensign Barksdale. For guard, 8 p. 1 s. 1 c." 

"Williamsburg, May 17th, 1776. 

" Parole — Convention. 
" Let it not be forgot that this day is set apart for humiliation, fasting, and 
prayer: the troops to attend divine service." 



CHAPTER LXXXVIII. 



Richard Henry Lee moves a Resolution for a Separation — Seconded by John 
Adams — Declaration of Independence — Jefferson — General Orders — Thomas 
Nelson, Jr., and the Nelsons — Benjamin Harrison, Jr., and the Han-isons — 
George Wythe. 

On the 7th day of June, 1776, a resolution in favor of a total 
and immediate separation from Great Britain was moved in con- 
gress by Richard Henry Lee, and seconded by John Adams. 
On the twenty-eighth a committee was appointed to prepare a 
declaration of independence, the members being Thomas Jefferson, 
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert R. Livingston. 
Richard Henry Lee being compelled, by the illness of Mrs. Lee, 
to leave congress on the day of the appointment of the committee, 
and to return to Virginia, his place was filled by Roger Sherman. 
The declaration, adopted on the 4th day of July, 1776, was com- 
posed, in committee, mainly by Mr. Jefferson, but much modified 
by congress. The Virginia delegates who subscribed it were 
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin 
Harrison, Jr., of Berkley, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot 
Lee, and Carter Braxton.* 

* Extracts from Orderly Book : — 

"Spring Field, July 17th, 1776. 
"General Lewis hopes that the reports of some of the officers gaming to ex- 
cess is without foundation: he begs that the field-officers will make diligent 
enquiry into it, and if true, to arrest such officers, that a total stop may be put 
to so infamous practices. 

"Officer for the day LIEUTENANT-COLONEL WEEDON." 

"Spring Field, July 24th, 177G. 

"The Declaration of Independency is to be proclaimed to-morrow in the City 

of Williamsburg, by order of the council, when all the troops off duty are to 

attend." 

"Williamsburg, July 26th, 1776. 

"Parole — Stephen. 

"A fatigue of one captain, two subalterns, two sergeants, and sixty rank and 

file, to be warned from the College Camp, to carry on the work intended to be 

thrown up on the road to Jamestown. 

(652) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 653 

Thomas Nelson, Jr., eldest son of the Honorable William 
^Nelson, some time president of the council of Virginia, was born 
at York, in December, 1738. His mother was of the family of 
Burwell. After having been under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. 
Yates, of Gloucester, he was sent at the age of fifteen to England, 
where he remained seven years, for the completion of his educa- 
tion. He enjoyed the superintending care of Dr. Porteus,* and 
was at the school of Dr. Newcome, at Hackney, at Eton in 1754, 
and at Cambridge. While on his voyage returning to Virginia 
he was elected (1774) a member of the house of burgesses, being 
then just twenty-one years of age. f He was a member of the 
conventions of 1774 and 1775, and displayed extraordinary bold- 
ness in opposing the British tyranny. He was afterwards ap- 
pointed colonel of a Virginia regiment. In 1775 and 1776 he 
was a member of Congress. There is a fine portrait of him still 
preserved, taken, it is said, while he was a student at Eton, (by 
an artist named Chamberlin, London, 1754,) the only portrait 
of him for which he ever sat. J 

The first of the Nelsons of Virginia was Thomas, son of Hugh 
and Sarah Nelson, of Penrith, Cumberland County, England. 
This Thomas Nelson was born in February, 1677, and died in 
October, 1745, aged sixty-eight. He married, first, a Miss Reid, 
secondly, a widow Tucker. Coining from a border county, he 
was styled "Scotch Tom." He was an importing merchant. 
Yorktown was in his day, and for a long time, the chief sea-port 
town of Virginia. Of his two sons, Thomas being long secretary 
of the council, was known as Secretary Nelson. Three of his 
sons were officers in the army of the Revolution. 

William, the other son of the first Thomas Nelson, imported 
goods not only for Virginia, but at times for Baltimore, and even 

"Colonel Bucknerwill please to order a fatigue proportioned to his number of 
men, to work on the road from Burwell's Ferry to Williamsburg, at such a place 
as he shall judge proper to fortify. One company of the second regiment to take 
post to-morrow at Mr. Burwell's, to erect a work at the mouth of King's Creek. The 
rest of the second regiment to march to-morrow to Mr. Digges's, to fortify there." 

* He afterwards sent, by Parson Bracken, a volume of his sermons, a present 
to young Nelson. The parson liked them so well that he preached them all be- 
fore he delivered the book. 

f Old Churches, of Va., i. 207. 

J His statue is to stand on the monument in Richmond. 



651 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Philadelphia. Negroes were a principal subject of importation; 
merchants and planters of chief note, some of them leading men 
in the colony, and patrons of the church, engaged in it; and no 
odium appears to have been attached to a business in which British 
capital was so largely interested, which was so constantly en- 
couraged and protected by the British government, and which 
had been so long an established feature of the colonial system, 
and so generally concurred in. John Newton, while personally 
engaged in the slave-trade on board of a Guinea ship, appears to 
have entertained at the time no scruples whatever on the subject of 
his employment. It is no matter of surprise that a Virginia con- 
signee of slaves should -have received them with a like indifference. 

William Nelson married a Miss Burwell, a granddaughter of 
King Carter. Having been long president of the council, and at 
one time acting governor, he came to be known by the title of 
President Nelson. He died in November, 1772, aged sixty-one, 
leaving an ample estate. His sons were Thomas, Hugh, William, 
Nathaniel, and Robert. A daughter, Betsy, married, in 1769, 
Captain Thompson, of his majesty's ship Ripon, which brought 
over Lord Botetourt. The portion descending to Thomas, oldest 
son of President Nelson, and who had been associated in business 
with him, was estimated at forty thousand pounds. 

Benjamin Harrison, Jr., of Berkley, was descended from an- 
cestors who were among the early settlers of Virginia. Hermon 
Harrison came to Virginia in the second supply, as it was called. 
One of the name was governor of Bermuda. John Harrison was 
governor of Virginia in 1623. The common ancestor of the Har- 
risons of Berkley and of Brandon, was Benjamin Harrison, of 
Surrey. He lies buried in the yard of an old chapel near Cabin 
Point, in that county.* 

* The following is his epitaph : — 

"Here lyeth 

the body of the 

Hon. Benjamin Harbison, Esq., 

■who did justice, loved mercy, and walked humbly with his God ; 

was always loyal to his prince, 

and a great benefactor to his country. 

He was born in this parish the 20th day of September, 1645, and departed this 

life the 30th day of January, 1712-13." 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 655 

It was long believed that the Harrisons of Virginia were 
lineally descended from Colonel John Harrison, the regicide and 
friend of Cromwell, and one of the noblest spirits in a heroic 
age. This tradition, however, appears to be erroneous. The 
first of the family in Virginia, of whom we have any particular 
record, was the Honorable Benjamin Harrison, of Surrey, who 
was born in that county in 1645, during the civil war in England. 
It is certain that he could not have been a son of Colonel Har- 
rison, the regicide. He may have been a collateral relation. 

The first Benjamin Harrison (of Surrey) had three sons, of 
whom Benjamin, the eldest, settled at Berkley. He married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Louis Burwell, of Gloucester; was a 
lawyer, and speaker of the house of burgesses. He died in 
April, 1710, aged thirty-seven, leaving an only son, Benjamin, 
and an only daughter, Elizabeth. 

Benjamin Harrison, Jr., of Berkley, was educated at William 
and Mary; married a daughter of Robert Carter, of Corotoman;* 
and was for many years a burgess for his native, county, Charles 
City. In 1761 he was one of the committee chosen to prepare 
an address to the king, a memorial to the lords, and a remon- 
strance to the commons, in opposition to the stamp act. Like 
Pendleton, Bland, and others, he opposed Henry's resolutions of 
the following year. He was a member of the committee of cor- 
respondence, and of all the conventions held before the organiza- 
tion of the republican government. He opposed Henry's resolu- 
tions for putting the colony in a posture of defence, but was 
appointed one of the committee chosen to carry them into effect. 
He was elected, in 1774, a delegate to the first congress, of which 
his brother-in-law, Peyton Randolph, (who married Elizabeth 
Harrison,) was president. In February, 1776, he remarked in 
that body: "We have hobbled on under a fatal attachment to 
Great Britain. I felt it as much as any man, but I feel a stronger 
for my country." As chairman of the committee of the whole 
house, Mr. Harrison, on the 10th of June, 1776, introduced the 
resolution declaring the independence of the colonies, and on the 



* Two daughters of this union were killed at Berkley by the same flash of 
lightning: a third married a Randolph, of Wilton. 



656 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

fourth day of July he reported the Declaration of Independence, 
of which he was a signer. He was six feet in stature, corpulent, 
and of a florid complexion. He was practical, energetic, frank, 
epicurean, gouty, good-humored, fearless, and patriotic.* 

The sons of the first Benjamin Harrison, of Berkley, were 
Benjamin, signer of the Declaration; Charles, a general of the 
Revolution; Nathaniel, Henry, Collier, and Carter H. From 
the last-mentioned are descended the Harrisons of Cumberland. 
Benjamin Harrison, Jr., the signer, married a | Miss BassettA 
Their children were Benjamin, Carter, Bassett, niember of con- ' 
gress, and William Henry, President of the United States. One 
daughter married a Mr. Richardson, a second married first Wil- 
liam Randolph, of Wilton, and then Captain Richard Singleton; 
a third married David Copeland, and a fourth married John 
Minge, of Weyanoke, afterwards of Sandy Point. So far. the 
Berkley branch of the Harrisons. 

The second son of Benjamin Harrison, of Surrey, was Nathaniel. 
His eldest son was of the same name, and his only son was Hon- 
orable Benjamin Harrison, of Brandon, of the council at the 
same time with his relative and namesake of Berkley at the com- 
mencement of the Revolution. This Benjamin Harrison, of 
Brandon, was father of the late George Harrison, and of William 
B. Harrison, of Brandon. 

George Wythe was born in 1726, in Elizabeth City County, 
Virginia, on the shore of the Chesapeake. From his maternal 
grandfather, Keith, a Quaker, he inherited a taste for letters. 
His ancestor, Thomas Wythe, was burgess for that county in 
1718. The father of George was a prudent farmer of estimable 
character. f George, the second son, losing his father at an early 
age, enjoyed but limited advantages of school education, and his 
early tuition was principally directed by his mother; and it is 
related that he acquired a knowledge of the Latin classics from 
her instructions.;}; Mr. Jefferson mentions that while young 
Wythe was studying the Greek Testament, his mother held an 
English one to aid him in the translation. It has been since 
inferred, from an examination of his manuscripts, that this last 

* Convention of 1776, p. 96; Allen's Biog. Dictionary. 

f Grigsby's- Convention of 1776, p. 125. J Wirt's Patrick Henry, 65. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 657 

was the only kind of assistance that he received from her in the 
Latin and Greek. He studied law under his uncle, John Lewis, 
of Prince George; but, upon the death of his elder brother and 
his mother, becoming master of a competent fortune, he fell into 
habits of idleness and dissipation. Like Swift, however, he was 
not one who, having wasted part of his life in indolence, was will- 
ing to throw away the remainder in despair; and in the society 
of Governor Fauquier and Professor Small he imbibed their love 
of learning; and at the age of thirty applied himself unremit- 
tedly to study. He became, eventually, distinguished by his 
attainments in classical literature ; and he pursued other studies 
with a like success. But he often deplored the loss of so many 
early golden years. His learning, judgment, and industry soon 
raised him to eminence at the bar. A member of the house of 
burgesses as early as 1758, he continued in it until the Revolution. 
At its dawn Mr. Wythe, in common with Thomas Jefferson and 
Richard Bland, assumed the ground that the crown was the only 
connecting link between the colonies and the mother country. 
In 1764 Mr. Wythe was a member of a committee of the house 
of burgesses appointed to prepare a petition to the king, a me- 
morial to the lords, and a remonstrance to the commons, on the 
subject of the stamp act. lie prepared the remonstrance in con- 
formity Avith his radical principles ; but it was greatly modified 
by the assembly. In May, 1765, he, in common with Nicholas, 
Pendleton, Randolph, and Bland, opposed Henry's resolutions as 
premature. Mr. Wythe likewise voted (March, 1775,) against 
Henry's resolutions for putting the colony in a posture of de- 
fence ; but he was in favor of the scheme of Colonel Nicholas for 
raising a large regular force. Early in 1775 Mr. Wythe joined 
a corps of volunteers as a private soldier; in August he was 
elected a member of congress. He was returned by the City of 
Williamsburg to the convention of that year; but being in 
attendance on congress his place was filled by Joseph Prentis. 
Mr. Wythe signed the Declaration of Independence, which he had 
strenuously supported in debate.* Mr. Wythe married first a 

* Convention of '76, p. 122. On his return to Virginia toward the close of the 
session of the convention then sitting, he was appointed one of a committee to 
prepare devices for a seal of the commonwealth. 

42 



658 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

Miss Lewis, and secondly a Miss Taliaferro.* He died childless. 
He is described as being distinguished for integrity, patriotism, 
and disinterestedness; temperance and regular habits gave him 
good health; engaging and modest manners endeared him to 
every one; his bow was one of most expressive courtesy. His 
elocution was easy, his language chaste, his arrangement lucid; 
his frequent classic quotations, smacking a little of pedantry; 
his style, which aimed at the antique, was deficient in elegance and 
rhythm. Learned, urbane, logical, he was not quick and ready, 
but solid and profound. He was of middle size, well- formed, his 
forehead ample, nose aquiline, eye dark gray, expression manly and 
engaging. His religious opinions were supposed to be skeptical; 
but the closing scene of his life is said to have been that of a 
sincere professor of the Christian faith. 

* Pronounced "Tolliver," originally an Italian name, Tagliaferro. 



CHAPTER LXXXIX. 

Richard Henry Lee — Francis Lightfoot Lee — Carter Braxton. 

Richard Henry Lee, a signer of the Declaration, was 
born at Stratford, on the Potomac, in Westmoreland, January 
the 20th, 1732, about a month before the birth of Wash- 
ington. The father of Richard Henry was Thomas Lee; the 
mother, Hannah, daughter of Colonel Philip Ludwell, of Green- 
spring, of the old family of that name, in Somersetshire, Eng- 
land, who were originally^ it is said, from Germany. Richard 
Henry Lee's early days were passed somewhat after the Spartan 
manner, his mother, one of the high-toned aristocracy of Virgi- 
nia, confining her care to her daughters and her eldest son, and 
leaving her younger sons pretty much to shift for themselves. 
After a course of private tuition in his father's house, Richard 
Henry was sent to Wakefield Academy, Yorkshire, England, 
where he distinguished himself by his proficiency in his studies, 
particularly in the Latin and Greek. Having finished his course 
at this school, he travelled through England, and visited London. 
He returned when about nineteen years of age to his native 
country, two years after his father's death, which occurred in 
1750. Young Lee's fortune rendering it unnecessary for him to 
devote himself to a profession, he now passed a life of ease, but 
not of indolence; for he indulged his taste for letters, and dili- 
gently stored his mind with knowledge in the wide circle of 
theology, science, history, law, politics, and poetry. Being 
chosen (1755) captain of a company of volunteers raised in 
Westmoreland, he marched with them to Alexandria, and offered 
their services to General Braddock in his expedition against Fort 
Du Quesne; but the offer was declined. In his twenty-fifth year 
Mr. Lee was appointed a justice of the peace, and shortly after 
a burgess for his county: Naturally diffident, and finding himself 
surrounded by men of extraordinary abilities, for one or two ses- 

(659) 



660 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

sions he took no part in the debates. One of his early efforts 
•was a brief, but strong, elaborate speech in support of a resolu- 
tion "to lay so heavy a tax on the importation of slaves as effec- 
tually to put an end to that iniquitous and disgraceful traffic 
within the colony of Virginia;" and on this occasion he argued 
against the institution of slavery as a portentous «vil, moral and 
political.* 

In November, 1764, when the meditated stamp act was first 
heard of in America, Mr. Lee, at the instance of a friend, wrote 
to England making application for the office of a collector under 
that act. It was difficult to retrieve so unpopular a step. 
During this year he brought before the assembly the subject of 
the act of parliament claiming a right to tax America; and he 
composed the address to the king, and the memorial to the com- 
mons. His accomplishments, learning, courtesy, patriotism, 
republican principles, decision of character and eloquence, com- 
manded the attention of the legislature. Although a member at 
the time of the introduction of Henry's resolutions of 1765, Mr. 
Lee happened not to be present at the discussion; but he heartily 
concurred in their adoption; and shortly after their passage 
organized an association in Westmoreland in furtherance of them. 
When the defalcations of Treasurer Robinson came to be sus- 
pected, Mr. Lee, like Patrick Henry on another occasion of the 
same kind, insisted with firmness on an investigation of the state 
of the treasury. It was he who introduced the motion (Novem- 
ber, 1776,) for separating the offices of speaker and treasurer; 
and he had a principal agency, together with Henry, in carrying 
that measure into effect. f A fragment of his speech on this 
occasion is preserved. 

In the succeeding year he vigorously opposed the act laying a 
duty on tea, and that for quartering British troops in the colo- 
nies. He was now residing at Chantilly, his seat on the Poto- 
mac, a few miles below Stratford. In July, 1768, in a letter to 
John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lee suggested that not 
only select committees should be appointed by all the colonies, 
but that a private correspondence should be conducted between 

* Life of Richard Henry Lee, i. 17. f S. Lit. Messenger, August, 1858. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 661 

the lovers of liberty in every province. The Virginia Assembly, 
in 1773, (about the same time with that of Massachusetts,) 
appointed a committee of correspondence, consisting of six mem- 
bers, of whom Mr. Lee was one. In the next year he was a 
delegate in the congress that met at Philadelphia. Patrick 
Henry spoke first, and he was followed by Richard Henry Lee. 

He was an active and laborious member of the leading com- 
mittees, and he composed the memorial to the people of British 
America — a masterly document.* When Washington was chosen 
commander-in-chief, Mr. Lee, as chairman of the committee 
chosen for the occasion, prepared the commission and instruc- 
tions. He prepared the second address to the people of Great 
Britain. 

In May, 1776, the convention of Virginia passed a resolution 
instructing her delegates in congress to propose to that body to 
declare the colonies free and independent; and when those 
instructions were received at Philadelphia, the delegation ap- 
pointed Mr. Lee to bring forward a proposition to that effect. 
He accordingly, on the second of June, made that motion, which 
was seconded by John Adams. On the tenth Mr. Lee received 
by express, from Virginia, intelligence of the dangerous illness 
of his wife; and he, therefore, left Philadelphia on the eleventh, 
the day on which a committee was appointed to draught a 
declaration of independence. Had he remained he might have 
been chairman of that committee, and author of the Declaration 
of Independence. f 

That instrument was adopted on the eighth of July, and shortly 
afterwards Mr. Jefferson enclosed to Mr. Lee the original draught, 
and also a copy of it as adopted by Congress. In August Mr. 
Lee resumed his seat in that body. 

He was in person tall and well proportioned; his features bold 
and expressive; nose, Roman; forehead high, not wide ; eyes light 
colored ; the contour of his face noble. He had lost by an acci- 
dent the use of one of his hands; and was sometimes styled "the 



* To be found in Life of Richard Kenry Lee, i. 119. 

f See Randall's Jefferson, i., and a review of his opinions on this subject, by 
Mr. Grigsby, in Richmond Enquirer of January 15th, 1858. 



662 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

gentleman of the silver hand;" he kept it covered with a black 
silk bandage, but leaving his thumb free. Notwithstanding this 
disadvantage his gesture was very graceful. His voice was melo- 
dious, his elocution Ciceronian, his diction elegant and easy. His 
eloquence flowed on in tranquil beauty, like the stream of his own 
Potomac* He was a member of the Episcopal church. He 
married first a Miss Aylett, and the children of that union were 
two sons and two daughters; secondly a lady named Pinkard, a 
widow. 

Francis Lightfoot Lee, brother of Richard Henry, was born in 
October, 1734. He was educated under a private tutor. He 
inherited an independent fortune. He became, in 1765, a mem- 
ber of the house of burgesses, and continued in that body until 
1775, when the convention returned him a member of congress, 
in which he remained until 1779, when he re-entered the assembly. 
His talents, as an orator and statesman, were of a high order, 
but it appears that he was never able to overcome his natural 
diffidence. His seat was Monocan, in the County of Richmond. 
He married Rebecca, daughter of Colonel John Tayloe, of Rich- 
mond County. 

Carter Braxton was born at Newington, on the Matapony, in 
King and Queen, in September, 1736. His father, George 
Braxton, a wealthy planter, married Mary, daughter of Robert 
Carter, of the council, and in 1748 represented the County of 
King and Queen, being the colleague of John (known as speaker) 
Robinson. Carter Braxton was educated at the college of Wil- 
liam and Mary. Inheriting in his youth, upon his father's death, 
a large estate, at the age of nineteen he married Judith, daughter 
of Christopher Robinson, of Middlesex. She dying, in 1757, 
Mr. Braxton visited England, where he remained for several 
years, and returned in 1760: a diary which he kept while abroad 
is preserved by his descendants. He married, in 1761, Elizabeth, 
eldest daughter of Richard Corbin, of Laneville. During his 
first marriage he built a mansion at Elsin Green, on the Pamunkey, 
and afterwards another at Chericoke on the same river. He 
lived in a style of lavish hospitality, according to the fashion of 

* The motto of his arms was: "Haud incautus futuri." 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 663 

that day. He was, in 1761, a member of the house of burgesses 
from the County of King William, and took an active part in the 
session of 1765. His colleague was Bernard Moore, of Chelsea, 
son-in-law of Governor Spotswood. Mr. Braxton was, in 1769, 
a delegate and a signer of the non-importation agreement. He 
was a member of the convention of 1774. In the following year, 
when Henry at the head of a party of volunteers had advanced 
within sixteen miles of Williamsburg, for the purpose of recover- 
ing the gunpowder removed by Dunmore, Mr. Braxton interposed 
his efforts to prevent extremities. In this course Mr. Braxton 
coincided with the moderate councils of Pendleton, Nicholas, and 
Peyton Randolph. During this year Mr. Braxton was a member 
of the assembly, and of the convention that met at Richmond. 
He was also one of the committee of safety. In December he 
was elected a delegate to congress in the place of Peyton Ran- 
dolph, and he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. 
The convention having, in June, 1776, reduced the number of 
delegates in congress from seven to five, Mr. Harrison and Mr. 
Braxton were not re-elected. According to Girardin,* Mr. Brax- 
ton's "Address on Government" was not universally relished, 
(it was indeed severely denounced, as has been seen,) and his 
popularity had been in some degree impaired by persons whose 
political indiscretions, though beyond his control, fatally reacted 
against him. He was, nevertheless, returned by the County of 
King William a member of the convention, and if he had fallen 
under a cloud of suspicion, it appears to have been soon dispersed, 
for, in October, 1776, the thanks of the convention were unani- 
mously returned to Thomas Jefferson and Carter Braxton, for 
their ability, diligence, and integrity, as delegates in congress. 

* Burk's Hist, of Va., iv. 



CHAPTER XC. 



Dunmore on Gwynn's Island — Driven thence by General Lewis — Dunmore re- 
tires from Virginia — Affairs at Boston — Canada invaded — Howe evacuates 
Boston — Battles of Long Island and White Plains — Fort Washington cap- 
turecb — Washington retreats — Enemy defeated at Trenton and Princeton — 
Death of Mercer. 

Dunmore, pressed for provisions, burnt his entrenchments, near 
the smouldering ruins of Norfolk, and sought refuge on board of 
his fleet. General Charles Lee devised energetic means for curb- 
ing the disaffected in the lower country ; and his orders were carried 
into effect by Colonel Woodford, whose vigor was tempered with 
humanity. Dunmore with his fleet left Hampton Roads about 
the first of June, and entrenched himself with five hundred men, 
including many runaway negroes, on Gwynn's Island, in the 
Chesapeake, to the east of Matthews County, and separated from 
it by a strait.* 

In the evening of July the eighth, General Andrew Lewis, with 
Colonel Adam Stephen, reached the camp before Gwynn's Island, 
and during the night a battery was erected. Next morning the 
enemy's fleet lying within range, the embrasures were unmasked, 
and a fire opened upon the Dunmore. This ship, after firing a 
few guns, cut her cables and retreated, towed off by boats, two 
batteries playing on her. She was damaged, her cabin shattered, 
and some men killed. Lord Dunmore himself was wounded in 
the leg by a splinter, and had his china-ware smashed about him, 
and exclaimed, as was reported : " Good God, that ever I should 
come to this!" The other vessels did not escape with impunity, 
and all retired in confusion to a safe distance. The guns of the 
batteries were now turned upon the enemy's camp, the shot cross- 

* There is a tradition that Pocahontas, in swimming across the Pyanketauk, 
was near being drowned, and was rescued by one of the colonists, who received 
from her, or her father, this island as a reward. 

(664) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 665 

ing each other in the centre of it, and the troops were dislodged. 
On the next morning Lewis, with the aid of some canoes, cap- 
tured two small armed vessels, and some of his men landing on 
the island, the look-outs ran exclaiming, "the Shirt-men are 
coming !" a panic seized Dunmore's men, so that they precipitately 
evacuated the island, (before two hundred and fifty of the Pro- 
vincials could be landed on the island,) and the boats of the fleet, 
consisting of eighty sail, took them on board. They left valuable 
stores behind, and burnt some vessels. The inhabitants reported 
that Dunmore had recently received are-enforcement of one hun- 
dred and fifty tories from Maryland, and some cattle. Part of 
these last fell into Lewis's hands. A detachment was sent to 
protect the people on the Potomac. Numerous half-covered 
graves on the island gave proof of the fatality of the place, and 
the bodies of negroes were found lying unburied. The small-pox 
was left as a legacy to the island. Among the graves was one 
neatly done up with turf, which was supposed to cover the re- 
mains of Lord Gosport, who had recently died. Ovens, newly 
erected, and a windmill commenced, made it evident that Lord 
Dunmore had contemplated a longer stay there. It was reported 
that he was sick. The negroes, horses, cattle, and furniture of 
Mr. John Grymes, a tory, fell into possession of the Provincials. 
Major Byrd, who was sick, upon their approach was conveyed to 
Cherry Point in a cart, and embarked there. Dunmore shortly 
afterwards, despatching the remnant of his followers to Florida 
and the West Indies, retired to the North, and thence returned 
to England, where he continued to exhibit himself an untiring 
opponent of America. He entertained hospitably in London the 
Virginia refugee loyalists Randolph, Grymes, Brockenbrough, 
Beverley, Wormley, Corbin, and others. Lord Dunmore was 
appointed (1786) Governor of Bermuda, and died in 1809. 

On the 3d of July, 1775, Washington had assumed the com- 
mand of the American army, encamped near Boston, and had 
made his headquarters at Cambridge. His first business was to 
organize, equip, and discipline his force. The British army, 
blocked up on the land side, remained inactive in Boston, finding 
itself, although strongly re-enforced, gradually hemmed in and 
besieged. 



6Q6 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

In the mean time, in pursuance of the Quebec act, a Canadian 
force having been marched into the colonies, and it being the 
manifest design of the enemy to bring down the savages upon the 
frontier, a detachment was sent to invade Canada. Marching 
under command of Montgomery, they crossed Lake Champlain, 
and laid siege to Fort St. Johns, the key to Canada, strengthened 
by Carle ton, the ablest of the British generals, and strongly gar- 
risoned. During this siege a detachment, penetrating further into 
the country, captured Fort Chamblee, between St. Johns and 
Montreal. Carleton, marching to the relief of St. Johns, was 
met and defeated. St. Johns, after a siege of forty-seven days, 
in a rigorous season, and in a low and wet ground, where the be- 
siegers slept on piles of brush, covered over with weeds, to keep 
out of the water, surrendered. November the thirteenth Mon- 
treal capitulated to the gallant Irishman, General Montgomery. 
Arnold, accompanied by Morgan and Greene, rubbing through 
exposure, hardship, and privation, made his way into Canada by 
the Kennebec and Chaudiere Rivers, and was about to unite his 
forces with Montgomery's. At this time it appeared as if the 
whole of Canada would probably soon be reduced, and it was 
confidently expected that Canadian delegates would shortly 
appear in congress, and complete the union of fourteen colonies. 
This brilliant prospect was soon overcast ; Montgomery fell in a 
daring but unsuccessful attack upon Quebec. Re-enforcements 
of American troops were sent to Canada, but owing to their in- 
sufficiency in number and in discipline, the rigor of the climate, 
and the energy of Carleton, the British commander, the expedi- 
tion eventually proved fruitless in effecting a conquest ; and it was 
found necessary to evacuate that country. While these reverses 
occurred by land, it was observed with satisfaction that the colo- 
nies abounded in materials and resources requisite for building 
up a naval force ; and in some of the colonies vessels were arming. 
Richard Henry Lee, in a letter to Mrs. McCauley, of England, 
compared America on the sea, in that year, to "Hercules in his 
cradle." The American navy was indeed "nursed in the whirl- 
wind and cradled in the storm." 

The British army at Boston, admonished by the scenes of Lex- 
ington, Concord, and Bunker's Hill, and finding their position 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 667 

more and more restricted by Washington's lines of fortification, 
remained in gloomy inaction until March, 1776, when Sir Wil- 
liam Howe, who had succeeded General Gage, evacuated that 
city, and sailed with the troops and many unhappy tory refugees 
to Halifax. 

The American army proceeded to New York. Early in July, 
1776, Sir William Howe with his army landed on Staten Island. 
The commander of the fleet was Lord Howe, brother of Sir Wil- 
liam, and these two were constituted commissioners for restoring 
peace. In the battle of Long Island, which occurred on the 
twenty-seventh of August, the American army, inferior in num- 
ber, and without cavalry, fought confusedly and badly, and was 
defeated with heavy loss, variously estimated. Among the 
prisoners was Major-General Sullivan. The enemy's loss was by 
no means inconsiderable. From the commencement of the battle 
on the morning of the twenty-seventh till the morning of the 
twenty-ninth, Washington never slept, and was almost incessantly 
on horseback. The disastrous result of this action cast a gloom 
over the cause of independence, elated disaffection, and damped 
the ardor of the American troops. The militia in large numbers 
quit the camp and went home; and Washington was obliged to 
confess his "want of confidence in the generality of the troops." 
He urged upon congress the necessity of a permanent army. On 
the fifteenth of September he was compelled to evacuate New York, 
with the loss of his heavy artillery and a large part of his stores, 
and General Howe took possession of the city. 

In a skirmish on Haerlem Heights, a detachment of the third 
Virginia regiment, which had arrived on the preceding day, 
formed the advanced party in the attack, and Major Leitch, while 
intrepidly leading them on, fell mortally wounded. 

In accordance with Washington's solicitation congress made 
arrangements to put the army on a better footing. To obviate 
the movements of the enemy he moved his forces up the Hudson 
River. On the twenty-fifth of October the battle of White Plains 
took place, warmly contested, with equal loss, and without deci- 
sive result. In November Fort Washington, on the Hudson, was 
stormed by the British, and the garrison, consisting of twenty-six 
hundred men, were made prisoners. Washington is said to have 



668 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

shed tears on occasion of this disaster. The enemy's loss was 
eight hundred. Early in December Washington, finding his army 
sadly reduced, retreated across Jersey. They were pursued by 
a British army, numerous, well-appointed, and victorious. At 
this conjuncture Major-General Lee was surprised and made 
prisoner — as is now believed — by collusion with the enemy.* 
The reanimated spirit of disaffection rendered the American cause 
still more hopeless. December the twentieth, Washington's army 
on the west bank of the Delaware, augmented by re-enforcements, 
amounted to seven thousand effectives ; but in a few days all of 
them, except about fifteen hundred men, were to be discharged 
upon the expiration of the term of enlistment. Washington be- 
came convinced that some bold enterprise was necessary to re- 
kindle the patriotic spirit, and listening to the advice of those 
about him, resolved to strike at the posts of the enemy, who had 
retired securely into winter quarters. Crossing the Delaware, a 
few miles above Trenton, in a night of extreme cold, amid floating 
ice, he early on the morning of the twenty-six surprised there a 
body of Hessians, and made one thousand prisoners. Lieutenant 
Monroe, afterwards president, was wounded in this affair. Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Baylor, of Virginia, aid of the commander-in-chief, 
carrying the intelligence of this success to congress, was pre- 
sented with a horse caparisoned for service, and was recommended 
for promotion. Near Princeton another corps was routed with 
heavy loss; but the joy of the Americans was mingled with grief 
for the loss of General Mercer. 

Hugh Mercer, a native of Scotland, having been graduated in 
the medical profession, was present, in the capacity of assistant 
surgeon, at the battle of Fkxlden, on the side of the vanquished. 
Escaping, he came to America, and settled at Fredericksburg, in 
Virginia, where he married, and successfully pursued his profes- 
sion. During the French and Indian war of 1755 he was a cap- 
tain under Washington. In an engagement, being wounded in 
the wrist by a musket ball, separated from his comrades, and 



* George H. Moore, Esq., librarian of the New York Historical Society, is 
preparing an interesting memoir on the subject of General Lee's treasonable 
conduct. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 669 

faint with loss of blood, lie was closely pursued by the savage 
foe, whose war-whoop rang through the surrounding forests. 
Concealing himself in the hollow trunk of a giant tree, he nar- 
rowly escaped. After a journey of more than one hundred miles 
through an untrodden wilderness, and supporting life on roots 
and the body of a rattlesnake, he finally reached Fort Cumber- 
land. For his gallant conduct the City of Philadelphia presented 
him an honorary medal. In 1775 he was in command of three 
regiments of minute-men, and in 1776 a colonel of the Virginia 
troops, and rendered important services in drilling and organizing 
the new levies. In quelling a mutiny in a company of riflemen 
called, ironically, "Gibson's Lambs," at Williamsburg, whom he 
disarmed, he displayed that intrepidity and decision for which he 
was so distinguished. During the same year, being made a 
brigadier-general in the continental army, he exhibited signal 
courage and energy throughout a disastrous campaign. On the 
3d day of January, 1777, this excellent officer, leading the van 
of Washington's army, encountered, about sunrise, near Prince- 
ton, three British regiments, and while rallying his troops his 
horse was shot from under him, and he fell dangerously wounded, 
and died shortly afterwards in a small house near the scene of 
the encounter. He was attended by Major George Lewis, a 
nephew of General Washington, who had sent him to perform 
that duty, and by Dr. Rush. 

The death of General Mercer forms the subject of a picture 
long familiar to the students of the college of New Jersey. He 
lies buried in Christ Church, Philadelphia. 



CHAPTER XCI. 



Death of Richard Bland — Genealogy of the Elands — First Assembly under new 
Government — Petitions against Church establishment — Memorial of Hanover 
Presbytery — Rev. Caleb Wallace — Petitions in favor of Established Church — 
Proceedings of Assembly — Alleged scheme of Dictator — Hampden Sidney — 
Virginia Navy. 

On the 26th day of October, 1776, died Richard Bland, at 
Williamsburg, aged sixty-six. He was in attendance as a mem- 
ber of the house of delegates at its first session, and was struck 
with apoplexy while walking in the streets. His intellectual 
calibre was capacious, his education finished, his habits of appli- 
cation indefatigable. Thoroughly versed in the charters, laws, 
and history of the colony, he was styled the "Virginia Anti- 
quary." He was a political character of the first rank, a pro- 
found logician, and as a writer perhaps unsurpassed in the colony. 

His letter to the clergy, published in 1760, and his enquiry 
into the rights of the colonies, are monuments of his patriotism, 
his learning, and the vigor of his understanding. He was an 
ungraceful speaker. It is said that he was pronounced by Mr. 
Jefferson to be "the wisest man south of the James River." He 
resided at Jordan's Point, on the James, in Prince George. His 
portrait and that of his wife were mutilated by the bayonets of 
British soldiers during the revolutionary war.* His wife had 
died in 1758, aged forty-six years. 

The Blands of Virginia derive their name from Bland, a place 
in or near Lonsdale, in Westmoreland, or Cumberland, England. 
William de Bland flourished in the reign of Edward the Third, 
and did good service in the wars which that king carried on in 
France, in company of John of Gaunt, Earl of Richmond. 
Thomas de Bland obtained a pardon from Richard the Second, 

* The name of Bland ought to be given to a county. 

(670) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 671 

for killing his antagonist in a duel, by the intercession of his friend 
the Duke of Guyenne and Lancaster. The coat of arms of Bland 
is quartered by the family of Wansford, of Kirklington, in the 
County of York, afterwards Lord Viscount Castle-Comer, in the 
kingdom of Ireland ; and the family of Thistlewait, of Thistlewait, 
bear the arms of Bland for their paternal coat as descended from 
the ancient family of Bland. Edward Bland, of Burfield, died in 
the reign of Edward the Fourth ; from him was descended Adam 
Bland, who lived in the reign of Edward the Sixth. John Bland 
was free of the "Grocers and Merchants Adventurers Company." 
Thomas Bland, receiver of the rents for Yorkshire in the time of 
Charles the First, married, secondly, Katherine, sister of Sir 
Richard Sandys, of Northbourne, in Kent. Giles Bland, col- 
lector of the customs for James River, owing to a quarrel with 
Sir William Berkley, became a partisan of Bacon, and was exe- 
cuted during the rebellion. Edward Bland, a merchant in Spain, 
(1643,) afterwards removed to Virginia, where he lived at 
Kimages, in Charles City County. Robert Bland was rector of 
Weyborough-magna, with the chapel of Sale appendant, in the 
County of Essex. Richard Bland, of the company of "Frame- 
work Knitters," was Lord of the manor of Preston Hall, and 
Lord Mayor of Preston. Theodorick Bland was some time a 
merchant at Luars in Spain, but came over to Virginia in the 
year 1654. He settled at Westover, on James River, where he 
died April 23d, 1671, aged forty-one, and was buried in the 
chancel of the church which he built, and gave, together with ten 
acres of land, a court-house and prison, for the county and parish. 
His tombstone is to be found in Westover churchyard, lying 
between those of two of his friends; the church has disappeared 
long ago. This Theodorick Bland was one of the king's council for 
Virginia, and was both in fortune and understanding inferior to 
no person of his time in the country. He married the daughter 
of Richard Bennet, Esq., sometime governor of the colony. 
Richard Bland, born at Berkley, son of this Theodorick Bland, 
married, first, Mary, daughter of Colonel Thomas Swan ; secondly, 
Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel William Randolph, of Turkey 
Island, on James River. Mary Bland, eldest daughter of Richard 
Bland, gentleman, of Jordans, born 1704, married Colonel Henry 



672 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Lee, of Westmoreland. Elizabeth, second daughter of said 
Richard Bland, married Colonel William Beverley,- of Essex 
County. Theodorick Bland, Sr., of Cawsons, in Prince George, 
was clerk of that county and member of the house of burgesses. 
He married Frances Boiling. The children of that union were 
Theodorick Bland, Jr., and four daughters, Elizabeth, Mary, 
Anna, and Jenny. Theodorick Bland, Sr., married, secondly, a 
widow Yates. Theodorick Bland, Jr., was a colonel of a regi- 
ment of horse during the revolutionary war, a member of con- 
gress, and of the convention of Virginia that ratified the Consti- 
tution of the United States. Patsy, daughter of Theodorick 
Bland, Sr., married Colonel John Banister, of Battersea, near 
Petersburg, member of the convention of 1776, lieutenant-colonel 
of cavalry during the war of Revolution, and member of con- 
gress. Frances, another daughter of Theodorick Bland, Sr., 
married John Randolph, of Matoax, and these were the parents 
of John Randolph, of Roanoke, the orator, who was born at 
Cawsons, in Prince George County, the residence of Theodorick 
Bland, Sr. The mother of John Randolph, of Roanoke, mar- 
ried, secondly, St. George Tucker, judge of the court of appeals 
of Virginia, and subsequently district judge of the federal 
court. 

The Cherokees, instigated by the English, having made bloody 
incursions on the Virginia frontier, Colonel Christian, with a 
body of troops, burnt their towns, and compelled them to sue for 
peace. 

On the 7th day of October, 1776, the general assembly of 
Virginia met for the first time under the constitution adopted in 
the preceding July. The house of delegates was composed of 
the same members as those who constituted the convention which 
framed the constitution, and who held over without an election, 
and thus became the house of delegates under the constitution of 
their own making. The examples which probably guided them 
were, that of the convention of 1660, which, after calling Charles 
the Second to the throne, resolved itself into a house of com- 
mons; and that of the convention of 1688, which, after settling 
the crown on William and Mary, also resolved itself into a house 
of commons. The new senate, however, was elected by the 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 673 

people.* Edmund Pendleton was elected speaker of the house, 
and Archibald Cary speaker of the senate. 

The new declaration of rights asserted that "all men are 
equally entitled to the free exercise of religion according to the 
dictates of conscience;" yet it appeared that the assembly 
intended to continue the old church establishment. This 
and the circulation of petitions in behalf of episcopacy, as 
established by law, alarmed the dissenters, and they enquired 
what advantage then in this great point "shall we derive from 
being independent of Great Britain? And is it not as bad for 
our assembly to violate their own declaration of rights as for the 
British parliament to break our charter?" The Baptists accord- 
ingly circulated a counter-petition, which was signed by ten thou- 
sand persons, chiefly freeholders. The presbytery of Hanover 
also presented a memorial to the same effect, pledging themselves 
that nothing in their power should be wanting to give success to 
the cause of the country. In the frontier counties, containing 
one-fifth of the inhabitants of Virginia, the dissenters, who con- 
stituted almost the entire population, were yet obliged to contri- 
bute to the support of the church as established, and a consider- 
able portion of the inhabitants of the other parts of the colony 
labored under the same disadvantages. "Certain it is," say the 
memorialists, "that every argument for civil liberty gains addi- 
tional strength when applied to liberty in the concerns of reli- 
gion; and there is no argument in favor of establishing the 
Christian religion but what may be pleaded with equal propriety 
for establishing the tenets of Mohammed by those who believe the 
Alcoran ; or, if this be not true, it is at least impossible for the 
magistrate to adjudge the right of preference among the various 
sects that profess the Christian faith, without erecting a chair of 
infallibility which would lead us back to the church of Rome." 
Religious establishments (they contended) are injurious to the 
temporal interests of any community ; and the more early settle- 
ment of Virginia, and her natural advantages, would have 



* I am indebted to Mr. Grigsby for this statement. His opinions on this 
point are given fully in a review of Randall's Life .of Jefferson, in the Richmond 
Enquirer of January 15th, 1858. 

43 






674 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

attracted hither multitudes of industrious and useful members of 
society, but they had either remained in their place of nativity, 
or preferred worse civil governments and a more barren soil, where 
they might enjoy the rights of conscience more fully. Nor did 
religion need the aid of an establishment; on the contrary, as 
her weapons are spiritual, Christianity would flourish in the 
greatest purity when left to her native excellence; and the duty 
which we owe our Creator can only be directed by reason and 
conviction. 

This memorial was composed, in behalf of the presbytery, by 
the Rev. Caleb Wallace, of Charlotte County, a graduate of 
Princeton. He was in attendance upon the assembly for six or 
eight weeks for the furthering of this object.* 

The clergy of the established church presented petitions in 
favor of continuing the establishment, and they were re-enforced 
by the Methodists as a society in communion with the Church of 
England. It was urged that good faith to the clergy required 
that they should not be deprived of their livings, which belonged 
to them for life, or during good behaviour; that an ecclesiastical 
establishment was in itself a desirable institution, it being for the 
benefit of the community that a body of Christian ministers 
should be thus supported; and that if all denominations were 
reduced to an equality, the contest for superiority among them 
would involve confusion, and probably civil commotion; and 
finally that a majority of the people of Virginia desired to have 
the church establishment maintained. 



* In a letter addressed to Rev. James Caldwell, of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, 
April 8th, 1777, lie wrote : "I do not know that we have sinned against the King 
of England, but we have sinned against the King of Heaven; and he is now 
using Great Britain as the rod of his anger: by them he is executing just judg- 
ment against us, and calling us to repentance and humiliation. I also hope He 
is bringing about great things for His church." He also adds: "An American 
ought to seek an emancipation from the British King, ministry, and parliament, 
at the risk of all his earthly possessions of whatever name; nor is it the fear of 
danger that has prevented my preaching this doctrine in the army at head- 
quarters." "I meddle very little with matters of civil concern, only to coun- 
tenance the recruiting business, as far as I have it in my power, and sometimes 
I have a fight with the prejudices — I would rather say the perverseness — of such 
as are inclining to toryism among us ; but we have reason to rejoice that we have 
few such cattle with us." (Hist. Mag., i. 354.) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 675 

The assembly exempted dissenters from contributions for the 
support of the Church of England, and repealed all penal laws 
against any mode of worship, leaving all denominations for the 
present to support their clergy by voluntary contributions, and 
reserving the consideration "of a general assessment for the sup- 
port of religion" to a future session, so that the sense of the 
people on that subject might be, in the mean time, collected.* 
This matter was debated for a day or two in the house, and gave 
rise to some newspaper controversy. Religious freedom was 
gaining ground ; but, although all penal statutes were repealed, 
the restrictions and penalties sanctioned by the common law 
remained. 

In the struggle that preceded the Revolution more than two- 
thirds of the Virginia clergy of the established church and a 
portion of the lay members were loyalists. Of those clergymen 
who adhered to the patriotic side several were men of note, such 
as Jarratt, Madison, (afterwards the first bishop of Virginia,) 
Bracken, Muhlenburg, of the Valley of the Shenandoah, who 
accepted a colonel's commission, raised a regiment, and served 
throughout the war ; and Thruston, who also became a colonel. 

Congress having ordered the army to be augmented to eighty- 
eight battalions, to serve during the continuance of the war, a 
quota of fifteen battalions was assigned to Virginia ; and to com- 
plete them the assembly took measures to raise seven battalions 
in addition to those already embodied. Attention was bestowed 
upon the building up of a naval force, and men were transferred 
from the army to the marine service. Infantry and cavalry, 
speedily raised and well officered, were sent to join General 
Washington, and measures were adopted for calling forth the 
resources of Virginia, and to strengthen her for the exigencies of 
war. Courts of admiralty were established; entails abolished, 
the bill for this purpose being framed by Mr. Jefferson ; treason 
was defined, and penalties denounced against such as should 
maintain and defend the authority of the king or parliament, or 
should excite sedition in the State; importation from Great 
Britain was prohibited; loyalist British factors were ordered to 

* Burk's Hist, of Va., iv. 182. 



676 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

depart from the commonwealth under a statute of twenty-seventh 
year of Edward the Third. 

Governor Henry, owing to the state of his health, retired, with 
the concurrence of the assembly, to the country. An effort 
made at this time by David Rogers, a member of the senate, and 
some other malecontents in West Augusta, to erect themselves 
into a separate state, proved abortive. Robert C. Nicholas, 
resigning the office of treasurer, received the thanks of the legis- 
lature for his faithful discharge of the duties of his office. He 
was succeeded by George Webb. The estate of Lord Dunmore 
was disposed of, and the proceeds appropriated to the payment of 
his debts.* Jefferson, Pendleton, Wythe, Mason, and Thomas 
Ludwell Lee were appointed a committee to revise the laws. By 
the resignation of Mr. Mason, and the indisposition of Mr. Lee, 
the duty eventually devolved upon the other three. 

Congress, with a view of gaining the alliance of France, 
appointed three commissioners to that court: Benjamin Franklin, 
Silas Deane, and Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson declined the 
appointment, and it was then given to Dr. Arthur Lee. 

Toward the close of this session of the Virginia Assembly, 
when Washington was retreating through the Jerseys, and when 
the cause of independence seemed almost desperate, several of 
the members, it is said, meditated, in imitation of the Roman 
Republic, the appointment of a dictator. The tradition is, that 
such' was the animosity engendered by this scheme, that they who 
espoused, and they who opposed it, walked on opposite sides of 
the street. Who they were that favored it, or where it was con- 
cocted, or how developed, does not appear. It is reported, 
indeed, that Patrick Henry was the person held in view as the 
dictator; but that he suggested the plan, or favored it, or con- 
sented to it, or was in any way privy to it, there is no evidence 
to prove, nor has it even been alleged. The tradition (resting on 
no testimony) relates, that Archibald Cary, a man of violent 

* A number of his books came into Mr. Madison's possession. I remember 
seeing in Southampton County a Shakespeare with Dunmore's arms. A gentle- 
man in Petersburg has a black-letter Coke, which once belonged to Dunmore, 
and afterwards to Patrick Henry; it has his lordship's arms, and the orator's 
autograph. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 677 

temper, and a life-long opponent of Henry, sent a message to the 
governor, (by his brother-in-law, Colonel Syme,) that on the day 
in which he should accept the dictatorship he should fall by his 
dagger; and the Colonel has been compared to Brutus — as if the 
example was worthy of imitation, or as if a dictator appointed 
by a Virginia assembly can be justly compared to Julius Caesar 
at the head of his legions, usurping the government by his sword. 

South Carolina invested her governor, John Rutledge, a native 
of Ireland, with dictatorial powers during the revolutionary war. 
The Virginia assembly at this session invested Governor Henry 
with several extraordinary powers, and recommended to congress 
"to invest the commander-in-chief of the American forces with 
more ample and extensive powers for conducting the operations 
of the war." Washington urged the States to clothe their exe- 
cutives with extraordinary powers, and he himself was invested 
by congress with such. The safety of the people, the supreme 
law, may demand, in a crisis of extreme danger, the appointment 
of an officer charged with extraordinary powers, (but who, 
nevertheless, would be as much the creature of law as any ordi- 
nary judge or deputy-sheriff,) "to take care that the Republic 
shall receive no detriment." 

A year or two before the rupture with the mother country, the 
Presbytery of Hanover established a seminary in Augusta, 
beyond the Blue Ridge. The Rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith, 
who had been a teacher of languages in the College of New 
Jersey, was at this time a missionary in Virginia, and the school 
was founded upon his recommendation. The superintendent was 
John Brown, and the tutor William Graham. From this semi- 
nary Washington College, at Lexington, arose. By the advice 
of Rev. S. S. Smith it was determined to found another seminary 
east of the Blue Ridge, and the funds were raised by subscrip- 
tion; and although it was a period of apprehension and alarm, 
yet the enterprise was urged with energy and success.* This 

* The site selected for it was at the head of Hudson's Branch, in Prince 
Edward County, on a hundred acres of land given for that use by Mr. Peter 
Johnston. The trustees appointed were Rev. Messrs. Richard Sankey, of Buf- 
faloe, John Todd, of Louisa, Samuel Leake, of Albemarle, and Caleb Wallace, 
of Cub Creek, together with Messrs. Peter Johnston, Colonel Paul Carrington, 
Colonel John Nash, Jr., Rev. David Rice, and Colonel James Madison, Jr. 



678 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

work was accomplished in 1775, amid the throes of revolution, 
and Prince Edward Academy, the original foundation of Hamp- 
den Sidney College, was opened in January, 1776.* 

Increased educational means were much needed, all communi- 
cation with Great Britain being cut off; and educated youth would 
be wanting to fill the places of such as would soon fall victims of 
the war. The College of William and Mary was indeed old and 
tolerably well endowed; but it was near the scene of war and 
surrounded by noisy camps. In a short time more than a hun- 
dred students flocked to the Prince Edward Academy, and their 
number exceeded the means of accommodation. During the year 
a military company of the students was organized, Mr. John 
Blair Smith, Jr., a tutor, being captain. The uniform was a 
purple hunting-shirt. This company, upon a requisition of the 
governor for militia from Prince Edward during the following 
year, marched to Williamsburg, where, however, their services 
were not required. Some of them became officers in the army, 
and others enlisted as common soldiers. 

In 1775 the convention of Virginia had directed the committee 
of safety to procure armed vessels, for the better defence of the 
colony ; and the control and management were entrusted to them. 
The few small vessels and barges in their service were useful in 
restraining the tories, in protecting property, and in recapturing 
fugitive slaves. In May, 1776, a board of naval commissioners 
was appointed, consisting of Thomas Whiting, John Hutchins, 
Champion Travis, Thomas Newton, Jr., and George Webb. They 
met for the first time on the eighth of July following, at Wil- 
liamsburg. About seventy vessels appear to have been in service 
at some time or other during the war of Revolutions-including 
thirty ships, brigs, and brigantines, and thirty-eight smaller ves- 
sels, f Many of the vessels were built at the Chickahominy navy- 



* Foote's Sketches of Va., 393. 

| Among the ships and brigs are found the names of Oxford, Virginia, Loyal- 
ist, Pocahontas, Washington. Oliver Cromwell, Marquis La Fayette, Raleigh, Jef- 
ferson, Gloucester, Northampton, Sally Norton, Hampton, Liberty, Wilkes, 
American Fabius. Among the smaller were the Speedwell, Lewis, Nicholson, 
Harrison, Mayflower, Patriot, Congress, Accomac, Henry, Norfolk, Revenge, 
Mauly, Caswell, Protector, Washington, Page, Lewis, York, and Richmond. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 679 

yard, South Quay, Hampton, and near Norfolk. Early in April, 
1776, George Mason, of the committee of safety, had charge of 
the building of two galleys, and of "the American Congress," 
this last to carry fourteen guns, four and six-pounders, and her 
complement of marines and seamen being ninety-six men. The 
look-outs were a sort of winged sentries, and were exposed to 
hard service. But a small part of the vessels of the Virginia 
navy were in actual service at any one time; and there was a 
deplorable want of men, some having not more than one-twentieth 
of their full number. The vessels usually served separately, but 
early in the contest Commodore Boucher commanded fifteen sail 
in the Potomac; and at another time Captain Richard Taylor 
was in command of a squadron in Hampton Roads. The Virgi- 
nia-built vessels, although plain and simple in their construction, 
were very fast sailers. This, together with their lighter draught 
and familiarity with the waters, often enabled them to escape 
from the enemy. Of all the vessels of the Virginia navy not one 
remains. 

James Maxwell, Esq., was superintendent of the navy-yard on 
the Chickahominy, and he was assisted by Captain Christopher 
Calvert. The former officer commanded the ship Cormorant in 
1782. He was father of the late William Maxwell, Esq., Secre- 
tary of the Virginia'Historical Society. The three commodores 
commissioned during the struggle were J. Boucher, Walter 
Brooke, and James Barron. Richard Barron, brother of James, 
was a captain during the whole war. The Barrons appear to have 
had a natural proclivity for the water. Lieutenant William Bar- 
ron, of the continental navy, lost his life by the bursting of a 
gun on board of the frigate Boston, in bringing to a vessel off the 
coast of France, in 1778. John Adams, and his son John 
Quincy, then a boy, were on board gf this ship on this occasion. 
Mr. Adams held the lieutenant in his arms while his leg was am- 
putated. This William Barron had been a lieutenant in the Virginia 
naval service. Among the captains were Richard Barron, Eleazer 
Callender, John Calvert, John Cowper, Thomas Lilly, John 
Pasture. John Harris, James Markham, Richard Taylor, Edward 
Travis, 'Cely Saunders, Isaac Younghusband, and John ^Catesb y 
Cocke. ' Of the lieutenants may be named Dale, Cunningham, 



680 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

Charaberlayne, Lewis, Pickett, Watkins, and Jennings. Among 
the surgeons are found the names" of Kemp, Lyon, McClurg, 
Brockenbrough, Christie, Riddle, Reynolds, Sharpless, Swope, 
and Pell. Among the seamen were many faithful blacks, who 
served through the whole war. Most of the Virginia armed ves- 
sels were eventually captured at sea or destroyed in the rivers. 
The vessels commanded by the Barrons were the Liberty and the 
Patriot. The former was engaged in twenty actions, and was 
probably the only one that escaped the enemy. 

Early in 1776 an armed tender, commanded by the tory Good- 
rich, was captured off Bowler's wharf, in the Rappahannock. 
Shortly afterwards the Barrons captured, near the capes, the Brit- 
ish transport-ship Oxford, from Glasgow, having on board two 
hundred and seventeen Scotch Highlanders, who were shaping 
their course to join Governor Dunmore, whom they supposed to 
be in Virginia. This ship was destroyed by Arnold in 1781. 

Early in July, 1776, Captain Richard Barron captured a 
sloop, from the West Indies, laden with pine apples, limes, etc., 
and shortly after the Fanny, an English vessel, laden with sup- 
plies for Boston. She had on board numerous presents to the 
officers in that city. Captain Richard Taylor captured several 
merchantmen in the Rappahannock. One of them, the Speed- 
well, was armed, and sent to the West Indies for powder and 
supplies. In September several large vessels, laden with tobacco, 
were despatched to the same islands for the like purpose.* 

* Va. Navy of the Revolution, by Dr. Wm. P. Palmer, Secretary of Va. Hist. 
Society. (S. Lit. Messenger, 1857.) 



CHAPTER XCIL 

XWV. 

Commodore Hotham — Proceedings of Assembly — Charges against Richard Henry 
Lee — He demands an Enquiry — His Defence and Honorable Acquittal. 

In January, 1777, when Commodore Hotham was cruising in 
the Chesapeake, the prisoners that fell into his hands were 
humanely treated and readily exchanged. In February, the 
Phoenix man-of-war came to Yorktown with a flag, and sent 
ashore a party of prisoners, among whom was Colonel Lawson, 
who had been long in captivity, and who was exchanged for 
Colonel Alexander Gordon, of Norfolk, a Scotch tory, who had 
been arrested in 1775 and released on parole. Captain Lilly, 
in the brig Liberty, captured off the coast of Virginia the British 
ship Jane with a valuable cargo. Capture Pasture, in the Molly, 
a small craft, returned from the southward with a supply of gun- 
powder. The schooner Henry was captured by the British man- 
of-war Seaford. 

When the assembly again met in May, 1777, George Wythe 
was made speaker of the house of delegates; the oath of alle- 
giance was prescribed; a loan-office was established, and acts 
passed to support the credit of the Continental and State paper 
currency. Benjamin Harrison, George Mason, Joseph Jones, 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, and John Harrison were elected delegates 
to congress, Richard Henry Lee having been left out. There 
were no little dissension and animosity in congress between the 
delegates of the movement party and the moderates ; and, added 
to this, it was believed that an old grudge, harbored in Virginia 
against Mr. Lee for the prominent part he had taken many years 
before in disuniting the offices of speaker and treasurer, followed 
him to Philadelphia. The charges alleged against him by his 
enemies in Virginia were, first, that he had altered the mode in 
which his tenants should pay their rent from money to produce, 

(081) 



682 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

with the design of depreciating the currency of the country; and 
secondly, that he had favored New England to the injury of Vir- 
ginia; thirdly, that as a member of the secret committee in con- 
gress, he had opposed laying their proceedings before congress — 
it being thereby intended to insinuate that in so doing he had 
wished to conceal the embezzlement of the public money. 

A letter from Richard Henry Lee to Mr. Jefferson, dated at 
Philadelphia, November 3d, 1776, contains the following para- 
graph: "I have been informed that very malignant and very 
scandalous hints and inuendoes concerning me have been uttered 
in the house. From the justice of the house I should expect 
they would not suffer the character of an absent person to be 
reviled by any slanderous tongue whatever. When I am present 
I shall be perfectly satisfied with the justice I am able to do 
myself. From your candor, sir, and knowledge of my political 
movements, I hope such misstatings as may happen in your pres- 
ence will be rectified." Early in June, 1777, as well on account 
of his health as for the purpose of rebutting the charges circu- 
lated against him, Mr. Lee returned home; and having been 
elected to the assembly from Westmoreland, he repaired to Rich- 
mond and demanded an enquiry into his conduct. 

Mann Page, Jr., and Francis Lightfoot Lee, owing to the pro- 
ceedings of the house of delegates against Richard Henry Lee, 
condemning him in his absence without opportunity of defence, 
addressed a letter from Philadelphia, dated June tenth, to the 
speaker, tendering the resignations of their seats in congress. 

The demand made by Richard Henry Lee for an enquiry into 
his conduct was acceded to, and the senate on the occasion united 
with the house of delegates. Several persons were examined, 
and Mr. Lee was heard in his own defence. It appeared that he 
had first proposed to make the alteration in the payment of his 
rents from money to tobacco at a fixed valuation, as early as 
August, 1775, when the tenants on account of the association 
could not sell their produce, and when but little paper currency 
had as yet been issued for the war of Revolution, and, conse- 
quently the alteration could not have been proposed for the pur- 
pose of depreciating a currency which did not then, to any sensi- 
ble extent, exist. When in March, 1776, the alteration in the 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 6S3 

rents was actually made, very little paper money had yet been 
issued. And it appeared that in August of that year the tenants 
of Loudoun County themselves petitioned the convention to have 
their money-rents changed to produce. The truth was, as Mr. 
Lee declared, certain evil-disposed men hated him for the same 
reasons on account of which he was devoted to destruction in the 
British camp, which were, because he had faithfully served his 
country, and, in concert with other generous friends to human 
liberty and the rights of America, had contributed to the defeat 
of the enemy and to the raising of America triumphant over its 
cruel and vindictive foes. 

As to the second charge, that Mr. Lee opposed the laying the 
proceedings of the secret committee of congress before that body, 
for the purpose of concealing embezzlement of the public money, 
it was well known that he had no sort of connection whatever 
with any commercial business, and, therefore, could not propose 
to himself any advantage from any such source. But it was very 
probable that those who themselves entertained designs of pecu- 
lating upon the public funds, would be glad to get Mr. Lee out of 
their way. To lay the proceedings of a secret committee before 
congress would be to defeat its very object and contradict its 
name. The third charge was that he favored New England at 
the expense of Virginia and the South. It was known that 
America could be conquered only by disunion. Mr. Lee called 
on his accusers to show that he ever had in a single instance pre- 
ferred the interest of New England to that of Virginia. Indeed, 
he knew not in what respects their interests conflicted. New 
England and Virginia had both exhibited a fixed determination 
against British tyranny, and their guilt was alike in the eyes of 
the common enemy. The majority of the other colonies had 
entitled themselves to some hopes of pardon from the tyrant by 
vacillating conduct. Among the Middle and Southern States 
there was, in Mr. Lee's opinion, much enmity to Virginia, owing 
to jealousy of her wisdom, vigor, and extent of territory; but he 
had ever discovered, "upon every question, respect and love for 
Virginia among the Eastern delegates." It was his consolation, 
that "the malignants, who would represent him as an enemy to 
his country, could not make him so." He gave his enemies credit 



684 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

for more address than he had supposed they possessed, in making 
use of a good principle — rotation in office — for his ruin; and he 
believed that the act, limiting the term of service to three years, 
was framed expressly to fit his case; and thus a malicious slan- 
der, uttered in his absence, appeared likely to be successful.* Mr. 
Lee had been superseded early in the session while absent — a 
flagrant injustice against which no reputation could be safe. 
John Banister, although not very fond of Mr. Lee, said of his 
speech on this occasion: "Certainly no defence was ever made 
with more graceful eloquence, more manly firmness, equalness of 
temper, serenity, calmness, and judgment, than this very accom- 
plished speaker displayed on this occasion; and I am now of 
opinion he will be re-elected to his former station instead of 
Mr. George Mason, who has resigned. "f Mr. Lee is said to 
have shed tears while speaking on this occasion. The enquiry 
being ended, the senate withdrew, and in compliance with a reso- 
lution of the house, the speaker returned Mr. Lee their thanks 
for the faithful services which he had rendered his country while 
in congress. The speaker added his own testimony, and said: 
" Serving with you in congress, and attentively observing your 
conduct there, I thought that you manifested in the American 
cause a zeal truly patriotic; and as far as I could judge, exerted 
the abilities for which you are confessedly distinguished, to prose- 
cute the good and prosperity of your own country in particular, 
and of the United States in general." Thus Mr. Lee's vindica- 
tion of himself was triumphant. 

"Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt; 
Surprised by unjust force, but not inthralled; 
Yea, even that which mischief meant most harm, 
Shall in the happy trial prove most glory." 



* Letter of Richard Henry Lee to Patrick Henry — among the Lee MSS. I am 
indebted to N. F. Cabell, Esq., for the use of his transcripts of these interesting 
MSS., which are deposited in the library of the University of Virginia. 

f Life of Richard Henry Lee, 192 ; Bland Papers, i. 58. 



CHAPTER XCIII. 



Battle of Brandywine — Virginia Brigades — Burgoyne's Expedition — His Sur- 
render — Daniel Morgan — Washington at Valley Forge— Frigate Randolph- 
Treaty with France— Clinton retreats — Battle of Monmouth— General Lee- 
Anecdote of Colonel Meade — The Meade family — Colonel Baylor — General 
Clarke. 

In the battle of Brandywine, which took place on the 11th of 
September, 1777, Sir William Howe again proved victorious; 
but the action was well contested, and the loss on both sides 
heavy. The Virginia brigades, under Wayne and Weedon, par- 
ticularly distinguished themselves. General George Weedon, be- 
fore the Revolution, had been an inn-keeper at Fredericksburg. 
The third Virginia regiment, under command of Colonel Thomas 
Marshall, (father of the chief justice,) which had performed severe 
duty in 1776, was placed in a wood on the right, and in front of 
Woodford's brigade and Stephen's division. Though attacked by 
superior numbers, the regiment maintained its position until both 
its flanks were turned, its ammunition nearly expended, and more 
than half of the officers and one-third of the soldiers were killed 
or wounded. Colonel Marshall, whose horse had received two 
balls, then retired to resume his position on the right of his divi- 
sion, but it had already retreated. Among the wounded in this 
battle were La Fayette and Woodford. The enemy passed the 
night on the field of battle. On the twenty-sixth the British 
entered Philadelphia. 

On the fourth of October occurred the battle of Germantown, 
in which the American forces, by a well-concerted plan, attacked 
the enemy at several points early in the morning. The British 
were at first driven back, precipitately, toward Philadelphia, but 
at length made a successful stand at Chew's house, garrisoned by 
five companies of the fortieth regiment, under the command of 
Colonel Musgrave. Lieutenant Matthew Smith, of Virginia, 
having volunteered to carry a flag of truce to Chew's house, waa 

(685) 



686 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

mortally wounded, and died in a few days. The Americans being 
thrown into confusion in a dense fog, Washington, when victory 
had seemed to be almost within his grasp, was eventually com- 
pelled to retreat. A British officer afterwards declared in parlia- 
ment that Sir William Howe had received information beforehand 
of the intended attack. The ninth Virginia regiment and part of 
the sixth were made prisoners. Colonel Matthews, after pene- 
trating to the centre of the town with his regiment, was made 
prisoner. Major-General Stephen, who commanded the right 
division of the left wing, was cashiered for misconduct on the 
retreat, and intoxication. The loss of the enemy was heavy ; and 
congress expressed its approbation of the plan of the battle and 
the courage displayed in its execution, and the thanks of that 
body were given to the general and the army. 

In the mean time, at the north, Burgoyne, with a well-appointed 
army, had advanced from Canada, in order to open a communi- 
cation between that country and' New York, and to cut off New 
England from the rest of the States. Washington, in a letter to 
General Schuyler, gave it as his opinion that Burgoyne would, 
eventually, receive an effectual check ; that his confidence of suc- 
cess would precipitate his ruin; that his acting in detachment 
would expose his parties to great hazard, and prophetically adds : 
" Could we be so happy as to cut one of them off, though it should 
not exceed four, five, or six hundred men, it would inspirit the 
people." 

After capturing Ticonderoga, Burgoyne moved toward the Hud- 
son, encountering continual obstructions in his route through a 
wilderness, and harassed by the American troops. A strong de- 
tachment was overwhelmed by Starke and his countrymen near 
Bennington, in Vermont. After a series of engagements, in 
which he suffered a terrible loss, Burgoyne was at length, on the 
17th day of October, 1777, thirteen days after the battle of Ger- 
mantown, forced to surrender at Saratoga to Gates, who had 
shortly before succeeded Schuyler. Among those who distin- 
guished themselves at Saratoga was Daniel Morgan, with his Vir- 
ginia riflemen. He was a native of New Jersey, son of a Welsh- 
man, and removed in his youth to Virginia, about 1755, and made 
his living for a time by driving a wagon. In Braddock's expedi- 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. G87 

tion, when about twenty-two years of age, he served as a private, 
and was wounded. There is a tradition of his having been 
severely whipped on a charge of contumacy to a British officer.* 
For some years after he was twenty years of age he was addicted 
to fighting and gambling; and the reputed scene of his combats, 
in Clarke County, retains its name of Battletown. When the 
revolutionary war began he was appointed a captain, and in com- 
mand of a troop of Virginia horse he marched thence in the sum- 
mer, with extraordinary expedition, to the American army at 
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Washington, Who knew him well, 
and had strong confidence in his bravery and patriotism, detached 
him to join the expedition against Canada; and he exhibited his 
accustomed courage at Quebec ; and when Arnold was wounded 
the command devolved on him. When Montgomery fell, Morgan 
was taken prisoner. While in the hands of the British he was 
offered the rank and pay of a colonel, but he indignantly rejected 
them. Exchanged in the following year, he rejoined the army; 
and in command of a rifle corps rendered signal service at 
Saratoga. 

On the thirtieth day of October Gates' victory was celebrated 
at Williamsburg by a feu de joie, joyful shouts, ringing of bells, 
and illuminations; and all prisoners, except deserters, were dis- 
charged from confinement; and a gill of rum was issued to every 
soldier. The troops were reviewed by General Nelson, by the 
speakers of both houses of assembly, and by many of the mem- 
bers. Governor Henry, by proclamation, appointed a day of 
thanksgiving. 

In December the American army encamped at Valley Forge, 
on the Schuylkill, near Philadelphia. The winter was one of ex- 
traordinary rigor ; the soldiers destitute of clothing, and the hos- 
pitals filled with the sick. To aggravate Washington's troubles 
a cabal formed a design at this time of supplanting him, and 
making Gates commander-in-chief. But Washington stood un- 
shaken : the angry billows dash in vain against the ocean rock, 
and fall in empty murmurs at its base. 



* The Rev. Dr. Hill told Mr. Grigsby that he had seen the marks of the flog- 
ging on Morgan's back. 



688 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

In May, 1778, the American frigate Randolph, (so called in 
honor of Peyton Randolph, president of congress,) carrying 
thirty-six guns and three hundred and five men, sailed on a cruise 
from Charleston. The Yarmouth, British man-of-war, of sixty- 
four guns, discovered her and five other vessels, and came up with 
her in the evening. Captain Vincent hailed the Randolph to 
hoist colors, or he would fire into her; on which she hoisted the 
American flag, and immediately gave the Yarmouth her broad- 
side, which was returned, and in about a quarter of an hour the 
Randolph blew up. Four men escaped upon a fragment of the 
wreck, and subsisted for five days on rain water alone, which they 
sucked from a piece of blanket which they had picked up. They 
were rescued by the Yarmouth.* 

Early in this month congress received despatches containing a 
treaty between the king of France and the United States of 
America. In consequence of Burgoyne's surrender and of the 
treaty with France, the British army (under command of Sir Henry 
Clinton, who had relieved Sir William Howe,) evacuated Philadel- 
phia in June, 1778. Crossing the Delaware, they marched for New 
York. Washington pursued them across the Jerseys, and on the 
twenty-eighth of June occurred the battle of Monmouth. The 
result was not decisive; many died from heat and fatigue; the 
Americans remained on the field of battle, where Washington 
passed the night in his cloak in the midst of his soldiers. It was 
during this action that General Charles Lee retreated before the 
British, who had turned upon him. He was met by Washington, 
who reprimanded him, ordered the division to be formed, and, 
with the aid of artillery under Lieutenant-Colonel Carrington, 
checked the enemy's advance. General Lee was arrested, tried, 
and convicted of disobedience of orders, of making an unneces- 
sary and disorderly retreat, and of writing disrespectfully to the 
commander-in-chief, and suspended from the army for one year. 
Recent developments strengthen the suspicion long entertained 
that he acted traitorously. It is strange that, conscious of this, 
he should have remained among those whom he had endeavored 
to betray. He had previously been signally serviceable in the 

* Cooper's History of North America, 106. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 689 

American cause; and at the time of his suspension there were 
not wanting divers leading men who thought him hardly dealt 
with. But a man is never better than his principles, and Gene- 
ral Lee's were bad from the beginning. La Fayette said that 
Washington never appeared to better advantage than in this 
action, when roused by Lee's misconduct. 

Colonel Richard Kidder Meade, the father of Bishop Meade, 
was one of Washington's aides-de-camp. The following anecdote 
relative to him is taken from the Travels of Anburey, who was a 
lieutenant in the British army, and in 1779 a prisoner of war in 
Virginia, and visiting the lower country on parole : " On my 
way to this place I stopt and slept at Tuckahoe, where I met 
with Colonel Meade, Colonel Laurens, and another officer of 
General Washington's suite. More than once did I express a 
wish that the general himself had been of the party, to have seen 
and conversed with a character of whom, in all my travels through 
the various provinces, I never heard any one speak disrespectfully 
as an individual, and whose public character has been the admira- 
tion and astonishment of all Europe." * * * * 
" The colonel (Meade) attributed the safety of his person to the 
swiftness of his horse at the battle of Monmouth, having been 
fired at and pursued by some British officers as he was reconnoi- 
tering. Upon the colonel's mentioning this circumstance it 
occurred to me he must have been the person that Sir Henry 
Clinton's aide-de-camp had fired at, and requesting to know the 
particular color of his horse, he informed me it was black, which 
convinced me it was him; when I related the circumstance of his 
meeting Sir Henry Clinton, he replied he recollected in the course 
of the day to have met several British officers, and one of them 
wore a star. Upon my mentioning the observation Sir Henry 
Clinton had made to his aide-de-camp,* the colonel laughed, and 
replied, had he known it was the commander-in-chief he should 
have made a desperate effort to take him prisoner." 

The name of Richard Kidder is said to be derived from a 
bishop of Bath and Wells, who was from the same stock with the 

* To wit, that he ought by no means to have fired at the American, as he pro- 
bably might have wished to speak to him and give him intelligence. 

44 



690 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Meades of Virginia. Andrew Meade, first of the name in Vir- 
ginia, born in County Kerry, Ireland, educated a Romanist, came 
over to New York, and married Mary Latham, a Quakeress, of 
Flushing, on Long Island. He afterwards settled in Nansemond, 
Virginia, and for many years was burgess thereof; from which it 
appears that he must have renounced the Romish religion. He 
was prosperous, affluent, and hospitable. He is mentioned by 
Colonel Byrd in his Journal of the Dividing Line run in 1728. His 
only son, David Meade, married, under romantic circumstances, 
Susannah, daughter of Sir Richard Everard, Baronet, Governor 
of North Carolina. Of the sons of David Meade, Richard Kid- 
der Meade was aide-de-camp to General Washington; Everard 
Meade aide to General Lincoln. Richard Kidder, Everard, 
together with an older brother, David, were educated at Harrow, 
England, under the care of Dr. Thackeray. Sir William Jones, 
Sir Joseph Banks, and Dr. Parr, were at the same time scholars 
there. 

In June, 1778, Colonel Arthur Campbell wrote to the Rev. 
Charles Cummings, of Washington County : " Yesterday I returned 
home, the assembly having adjourned until the first Monday in 
October. The acts passed, and a list of their titles, I here en- 
close, together with an address of congress to the people of 
America, for you to publish, agreeable to the resolve. I wish 
you could make it convenient to preach at the lower meeting- 
house in this county, if it was but a week-day, as the contents of 
the address are of the most interesting nature, both as to the 
moral and political conduct of the good people of America. 
Providence is daily working out strange deliverances for us. 
The treaty with France is much more advantageous than the 
wisest men in this country expected. The Indians the other day 
were unexpectedly discomfited on Greenbrier. I think the over- 
throw was something similar to what happened in this county 
about two years ago. I must give you the intelligence at full 
length, as the most hardened mind must see and admire the 
Divine goodness in such an interposition." 

The Rev. Charles Cummings, by birth an Irishman, resided 
for some time in the congregation of the Rev. James Waddell, in 
Lancaster, and probably studied theology under his care. Mr. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 691 

Cummings married Miss Milly, daughter of John Carter, of Lan- 
caster, and in 1773 settled near where Abingdon now stands. 
His meeting-house was of unhewn logs, from eighty to a hundred 
feet long and forty wide. Mr. Cummings was of middle stature, 
well formed, of great firmness and dignity. His voice was of 
great compass, and his articulation distinct. At this time the 
inhabitants, during the summer months, were compelled to take 
shelter in forts for protection against the Indians. The men 
went to church armed, taking their families with them. The 
armed congregation, seated in the log meeting-house, presented a 
singular spectacle of frontier life. Mr. Cummings, when he 
ascended the steps of the pulpit, deposited his rifle in a corner 
and laid aside his shot-pouch. He was a zealous whig, and was 
chairman of the committee of safety of "Washington County, formed 
as early as January, 1775. He was a Presbyterian of the old 
stamp, a rigid Calvinist, and a man of exemplary piety. 

After the battle of Monmouth Sir Henry Clinton occupied 
New York. The arrival of a French fleet under D'Estaing re- 
animated the hopes of the Americans. Arthur Lee argued 
unfavorably of the removal of D'Orvilliers and D'Estaing's 
appointment. Washington took a position at White Plains, on 
the Hudson. About this time Colonel Baylor's regiment of 
cavalry was surprised in the night by a British corps under 
General Gray. Of one hundred and four privates forty were 
made prisoners, and twenty-seven killed or wounded. Colonel 
Baylor was himself dangerously wounded and taken prisoner. 

In the year 1778 the town of Abington was incorporate!. 
Virginia sent General George Rogers Clarke on an expedition to 
the northwest. After enduring extreme sufferings in marching 
through a wilderness, he and his hardy followers captured Kaskas- 
kias and its governor, Rocheblave. In December, 1778, Hamilton, 
British lieutenant-governor of Detroit, under Sir Guy Carleton, 
governor-in-chief, took possession of the post (now the town) of 
Vincennes, in Indiana. Here he fortified himself, intending in 
the ensuing spring to rally his Indian confederates to attack Kas- 
kaskias, then in possession of Clarke, and to proceed up the Ohio 
to Fort Pitt, sweeping Kentucky in the way, and finally over- 
running all West Augusta. This expedition was ordered by 



692 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

Carleton. Clarke's position was too remote for succor, and his 
force too small to withstand a siege ; nevertheless, he prepared to 
make the best defence possible. At this juncture a Spanish 
merchant brought intelligence that Hamilton had, by detaching 
his Indian allies, reduced the strength of his garrison to eighty 
men, with a few cannon. Clarke immediately despatched a small 
armed galley, with orders to force her way and station herself a 
few miles below the enemy. In the mean time, early in Feb- 
ruary, 17T9, he marched, with one hundred and thirty men, upon 
St. Vincennes : many of the inhabitants of the country joined the 
expedition ; the rest garrisoned the towns. Impeded by rain and 
high waters, his little army were occupied for sixteen days in 
reaching the fertile borders of the Wabash, and when within nine 
miles of the enemy it required five days to cross "the drowned 
lands" near that river, "having to wade often upwards of two 
leagues, up to our breasts in water." But for the unusual mildness 
of the season they must have perished. On the evening of Feb- 
ruary the twenty-third they reached dry land, and came unper- 
ceived within sight of the enemy; and an attack being made at 
seven o'clock, the inhabitants of St. Vincennes gladly surrendered 
it, and assisted in besieging Hamilton, who held out in the 
fort. On the next day he surrendered the garrison. Clarke 
despatching some armed boats up the Wabash, captured a con- 
voy, including forty prisoners and £10,000 worth of goods and 
stores. Hamilton, and some officers and privates, were sent to 
the governor at Williamsburg. Colonel Shelby about the same 
time attacking the Cherokees, who had taken up the tomahawk, 
burnt eleven towns and a large quantity of corn, and captured 
£25,000 worth of goods. 

The assembly of Virginia afterwards presented to General 
Clarke an honorary sword, on the scabbard of which was inscribed: 
"Sic semper tyrannis;" and on the blade: "A tribute to courage 
and patriotism, presented by the State of Virginia to her beloved 
son, General George Rogers Clarke, who, by the conquest of Illi- 
nois and Vincennes, extended her empire and aided in defence 
of her liberties." In his latter years he was intemperate. 



CHAPTER XCVI. 

1779. 

Condition of Affairs — Mason's Letter — Convention Troops removed to Char- 
lottesville — Miscellaneous — Church Establishment abolished — Clergy and 
Churches — Suffolk burnt — D'Estaing's Siege of Savannah — Lincoln surrenders 
— Gates defeated at Camden — Sumpter defeated — Battle of King's Mountain — 
Colonel Campbell — Colonel Ferguson. 

Washington looked upon the early part of 1779 as more 
fraught with danger than any preceding period of the war, not 
on account of the strength of the enemy, but owing to the spirit 
of selfish speculation, money-making, and stock -jobbing that pre- 
vailed, the depreciation of the paper currency, the States em- 
ploying their ablest men at home, the idleness and dissipation of 
men in public trust, and the dissensions in congress. The demo- 
ralizing influences of war were making themselves manifest.* 

Colonel George Mercer, of Stafford, who had been compelled 
to resign the office of stamp collector before the commencement 
of the revolutionary struggle, retired to England. George Mason, 
who was related to him, in October, 1778, addressed him a letter, 
in which he said: "If I can only live to see the American Union 
firmly fixed, and free governments well established in our western 
world, and can leave to my children but a crust of bread and 
liberty, f I shall die satisfied, and say with the Psalmist: 'Lord! 
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.' God has been 



* From verses supposed to have been written about this time by St. George 
Tucker :— 

"Virtue and Washington in vain 
To glory call this prostrate train." 

* * "Each eager votary hugs his reams, 
And hoards his millions in his dreams. 
Purin with giant strides approaches, 
And quartermasters loll in coaches." 

f The expi*ession is from Smollet's Ode to Independence. 

(693) 



694 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

pleased to bless our endeavors in a just cause with remarkable 
success. To us upon the spot, who have seen step by step the 
progress of this great contest, who know the defenceless state of 
America, and the numberless difficulties we have had to struggle 
with ; taking a retrospective view of what is passed, we seem to 
have been treading upon enchanted ground." 

Washington, in compliance with the resolutions of congress, 
had ordered the removal of the convention troops of Saratoga, 
then quartered in Massachusetts, to Charlottesville, Virginia. 
Congress, whether from distrust in the British prisoners, or from 
reasons of state, resolved not to comply with the articles of the 
convention, allowing the prisoners to embark for England on 
parole, until the convention should be ratified by the English 
government. Burgoyne had sailed for England in May, and from 
that time the command of the British troops of convention, 
quartered at Cambridge, had devolved upon General Phillips. 
Colonel Bland, with an escort, conducted the prisoners of war to 
Virginia. Upon their arrival, in December, at their place of desti- 
nation, on Colonel Harvey's estate, about six miles from Char- 
lottesville, they suffered many privations, being billeted in block- 
houses without windows or doors, and poorly defended from the 
cold of an uncommonly rigorous winter. But in a short time 
they constructed better habitations, and the barracks assumed 
the appearance of a neat little town. In the rear of each house 
they had trim gardens and enclosed places for poultry. The 
army cleared a space of six miles in circumference around the 
barracks. A representation of the barracks is given in Anburey's 
Travels. The officers were allowed, upon giving parole, to provide 
for themselves lodging-places within a circuit of a hundred miles.* 
Mr. Jefferson exhibited a generous hospitality toward the cap- 
tives; and his knowledge of French, his taste for music, his fine 
conversational powers, and his fascinating manners, contributed 
not a little to relieve the tedium of their captivity. Governor 
Henry afforded them every indulgence in his power; and the 
amiable disposition of Colonel Bland, who commanded the guard 



* Anburey mentions a Dr. Fauchee as resident at Charlottesville — probably 
Foushee. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 695 

placed over the convention troops, still further ensured their quiet 
and comfort. General Phillips, described by Mr. Jefferson as 
"the proudest man of the proudest nation on earth," occupied 
Blenheim, a seat of Colonel Carter's; General the Baron de 
Riedesel occupied Colle, a residence belonging to Philip Maz- 
zei, Mr. Jefferson's Italian neighbor; and the Baroness, whose 
romantic sufferings and adventures are so well known, has given, 
in her Memoirs, an entertaining account of her sojourn among 
the picturesque mountains of Albemarle. Charlottesville at this 
period consisted of a court-house, a tavern, and about a dozen 
dwelling-houses. * 

Anburey has given a graphic picture of the manners, customs, 
and the grotesque scenes that he witnessed at Charlottesville 
and in its vicinity. 

Violent dissensions convulsed congress; some of the members 
were suspected of treasonable designs. Early in May, Richard 
Henry Lee wrote from Philadelphia to Mr. Jefferson, hoping that 
he "would not be blamed by him and his other friends for send- 
ing his resignation to the assembly, and averring that he had 
been persecuted by the united voice of toryism, speculation, fac- 
tion, envy, malice, and all uncharitableness," so that nothing but 
the certain prospect of doing essential service to his country could 
compensate for the injuries he received. But he adds: "It would 
content me indeed to sacrifice every consideration to the public 
good that would result from such persons as yourself, Mr. Wythe, 
Mr. Mason, and some others being in congress. I would struggle 



* Colonel Bland, in some verses written during this year, alludes thus to Mr. 
Jefferson: — 

On yonder height I see a lofty dome;* 
But, hapless fate, the master's not at home. 
His high aspiring soul aloft had towered, 
That like a God he was by men adored. 
But envy now has placed him in Jove's car 
To rule the tempest of the mighty war, 
That he, like Phaeton, may tumble down, 
And by his fall astonish all the town. 



GOG HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

with persevering ardor through every difficulty in conjunction 
with such associates." 
,f In 1779 the legislature rejected a scheme of a general assess- 

ment for the support of religion. Patrick Henry was in favor of 
/, it. The glebe-lands were also declared to be public property; 
and thus was destroyed the last vestige of a religious establish- 
ment in Virginia. During the Revolution, the loyalist clergy of 
Virginia who remained, found themselves in a deplorable condi- 
tion. The prohibition to pray for the king was strictly enforced 
upon them by the incensed people: some ministers omitted the 
obnoxious petitions; others abandoned the churches and offered 
no prayer in public; while a few appeared disposed, if possible, 
to resist the popular tide, but were compelled eventually to suc- 
cumb to it. In 1775 Virginia contained sixty-one counties, 
ninety-five parishes, one hundred and sixty-four churches and 
chapels, and ninety-one clergymen of the establishment. During 
the interval of the war part of the parishes were extinguished, 
and the greater number of the rest were deprived of ministerial 
help; but few ministers were able to weather the storm and re- 
main at their former posts; the others having been compelled to 
seek precarious shelter and support in other parishes. Some of 
the churches, venerable for age and connected with so many in- 
teresting associations, were left roofless and dismantled; others 
used as barracks, or stables, or lodging-places of prisoners of 
war; and the moss-grown walls of some were pulled down by 
sacrilegious hands, and books and vessels appurtenant to holy 
services pillaged and carried off. 

Until this year the British arms had been chiefly directed 
against the Middle and Northern States; but they were now 
turned against the South. Georgia soon fell a prey to the enemy, 
and South Carolina was invaded. In May a squadron under Sir 
George Collier anchored in Hampton Roads, and General Mat- 
thews took possession of Portsmouth. The enemy destroyed the 
public stores at Gosport and Norfolk, burnt Suffolk, and destroyed 
upwards of a hundred vessels, including several armed ones. The 
Virginia navy had been reduced previously, and many of the ves- 
sels ordered to be sold, and from this time the history of those 
remaining is a series of disasters. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 697 

Upon the approach of six hundred British infantry upon Suf- 
folk, the militia and greater part of the inhabitants fled; few 
could save their effects ; some who remained for that • purpose 
were made prisoners. The enemy fired the town, and nearly the 
whole of it was consumed : hundreds of barrels of tar, pitch, tur- 
pentine, and rum, lay on the wharves, and their heads being 
staved, the contents flowing in commingled mass and catching 
the blaze, descended to the river in torrents of liquid flame, and 
the wind blowing violently, the splendid mass floated to the oppo- 
site shore in a conflagration that rose and fell with the waves, 
and there set on fire the dry grass of an extensive marsh. This 
broad sheet of fire, the crackling flames of the town, the lurid 
smoke, and the occasional explosion of gunpowder in the maga- 
zines, projecting ignited fragments of timber like meteors in the 
troubled air, presented altogether an awful spectacle of the hor- 
rors of civil war. The enemy shortly after, laden with plunder, 
embarked for New York. 

While Sir Henry Clinton was encamped near Haerlem, and 
Washington in the Highlands on the Hudson,* Major Lee, of 
Virginia, surprised in the night a British post at Paulus Hook, 
and with a loss of two killed and three wounded, made one hun- 
dred and fifty-nine prisoners, including three officers. Soon after 
this a fleet, commanded by Admiral Arbuthnot, arrived at New 
York with re-enforcements. D'Estaing returned to the southern 
coast of America with a fleet of twenty-two ships-of-the-line and 
eleven frigates, and having on board six thousand soldiers. He 
arrived so unexpectedly that the British ship Experiment of fifty 
guns, and three frigates, fell into his hands. In September, 
Savannah, occupied by a British force under General Prevost, 
was besieged by the French and Americans, commanded by D'Es- 
taing and Lincoln. f In an ineffectual effort to storm the post 
the French and Americans suffered heavy loss. The siege was 
raised, and D'Estaing, who had been wounded in the action, 
sailed again for the West Indies, after this second abortive attempt 
to aid the cause of independence. The condition of the South 
was now more gloomy than ever. 

* August eighteenth. -f October ninth. 



698 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Clinton, toward the close of the year, embarked with a formid- 
able force in Arbuthnot's fleet, and sailed for South Carolina. 
In April, 1780, Sir Henry laid siege to Charleston; and General 
Lincoln, undertaking to defend the place, contrary to his own 
judgment, and in compliance with the entreaties of the inhabit- 
ants, after an obstinate defence was compelled to capitulate.* 
Shortly after this disaster Colonel Buford's regiment was cut to 
pieces by Tarleton. Georgia and South Carolina now succumbed 
to the enemy: it was the bending of the willow before the sweep 
of the tempest. In June, General Gates was appointed by con- 
gress to the command in the South. Having collected an army 
he marched toward Camden in South Carolina, then held by the 
enemy. While Gates was moving from Clermont toward that 
place in the night, f Cornwallis marched out with a view of attack- 
ing the American army at Clermont. Thus the two armies, each 
essaying to surprise the other, met unexpectedly in the woods, at 
about two o'clock in the morning. At the first onset the Ameri- 
can line was thrown into disorder ; but a body of light infantry, 
and in particular a corps under command of Colonel Porterfield, 
of Virginia, maintained their ground with constancy. This brave 
officer, refusing to give way, fell mortally wounded. The battle 
was resumed in the morning, and Gates' army was utterly dis- 
comfited : the militia fled too soon ; the regulars fought too long. 
The fugitives retreating in promiscuous disorder, were pursued 
by the unrelenting sabres of cavalry ; and the horrors of the rout 
baffle description. Thus Gates, verifying General Lee's predic- 
tion, "turned his Northern laurels into Southern willows." The 
defeated general retired to North Carolina to collect the scat- 
tered remains of his army. In August, Sumpter was overwhelmed 
by Tarleton; and for a time the British army were in the as- 
cendant throughout the South. 

CornwallisJ detached Colonel Ferguson, a gallant and expert 
officer, across the Wateree, with one hundred and ten regulars; 
and in a short time tory recruits augmented his numbers to one 
thousand; and, confident of his strength, he sent a menacing 
message to the patriot leaders on the western waters. This was, 

* May twelfth. f August sixteenth. J September first. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 699 

for the South, "the time that tried men's souls:" many of the 
leading patriots captives or exiles, the country subjugated, British 
and tory cruelty desolating it, hope almost extinct, — Marion 
alone holding out in his fastnesses. The spirit of the hardy 
mountaineers was aroused, and hearing that Ferguson was 
threatening to cross the mountains, a body of men in arms were 
concentrated by the twenty-fifth on the banks of the Watauga — • 
four hundred from Washington County, Virginia, under Colonel 
William Campbell; the rest from North Carolina, under Colonels 
Shelby, Sevier, McDowell, Cleveland, and Winston. Crossing 
the mountains they advanced toward Ferguson, who began to 
retreat, and took up a position* on an eminence of about one 
hundred and fifty feet, called King's Mountain. It is situated in 
the northern part of South Carolina, near the North Carolina 
line, its sides steep and rocky, a brook flowing at its foot, — the 
surrounding scenery thickly wooded, wild, and picturesque. It 
was resolved to pursue the enemy with nine hundred picked men. 
Near the Cowpens, where Ferguson had encamped on the fourth, 
and about thirty miles from King's Mountain, the mountaineers 
were re-enforced by four hundred and sixty men, the greater part 
of them from South Carolina, under Colonel Williams. Here, at 
about nine o'clock of the evening, Colonel William Campbell was 
appointed to the chief command. The mountain horsemen rode 
on in the night through a rain, with their guns under their arms 
to keep the locks dry; the leader in front, and each colonel at 
the head of his troops. In the morning they halted for half an 
hour to eat a frugal breakfast, and at twelve o'clock, when the 
sky cleared, they found themselves within three miles of the 
British camp. They halted, and the order passed along the line : 
"Tie up overcoats, pick touch-holes, fresh prime, and be ready 
to fight." At three o'clock in the afternoon of the seventh of 
October an express from Ferguson to Cornwallis was captured, 
and his despatches, declaring his position on King's Mountain 
impregnable, were read to the troops. Galloping off they came 
in twenty minutes within sight of the British camp. They dis- 
mounted on the banks of the little stream, tied their horses to the 

* October sixth. 



700 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

limbs of trees, and left them in charge of a small guard. The 
force being divided, the mountain was surrounded. As each 
column moved on to the attack it was driven back a short dis- 
tance by the charge of the British, who were soon compelled to 
wheel, in order to face another column advancing on the opposite 
side. Ferguson, finding his troops hemmed in and huddled 
together on the summit of the mountain, fought with' desperate 
valor, and fell, charging at the head of his men and cheering them 
on. The white flag was now raised. Of Ferguson's force, 
amounting to rather more than eleven hundred men, two hundred 
and forty were killed and two hundred wounded; upwards of 
seven hundred were taken prisoners, with all the arms, ammuni- 
tion, and camp equipage. The loss of the patriots was thirty 
killed and fifty wounded. The gallant Williams was slain, as 
also was Major Chronicle, and several other officers. The battle 
lasted one hour. A number of the tories were hung on the next 
day. The sword used by Colonel Campbell on this occasion is 
preserved in possession of William Campbell Preston, of South 
Carolina, the orator, his grandson; it is more than two centuries 
old, and was wielded by the ancestors of Colonel Campbell in 
Scotland in the wars of the Pretenders. One of the rifles em- 
ployed at King's Mountain is also preserved. This battle was 
the turning-point of the war in the South. 

Colonel William Campbell was a native of Augusta County, 
and removed early to the County of Washington. Fame has 
awarded him the title of "the hero of King's Mountain." 
Colonel Ferguson was an excellent marksman, and brought the 
art of rifle shooting to high perfection. He invented a gun of 
that kind which was said to surpass anything of the sort before 
known, and he was said to have outdone even the Indians in firing 
and loading and hitting the mark, standing or lying, and in no 
matter what position of the body. It was reported that General 
Washington owed his life, at the battle of Brandy wine, to Fergu- 
son's ignorance of his person, as he was within his reach.* He 
afterwards, upon discovering the fact, remarked that he was not 
sorry that he did not know him. 

* Dodsley's Annual Register for 1781. 



CHAPTER XCV. 

1780. 
Arthur Lee — Deane — Franklin — Madison. 

In the year 1780 Arthur Lee returned to America after a long 
absence. He was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on 
the 20th of December, 1740, being the youngest of five brothers, 
all of whom became eminent. After passing some time at Eton 
he entered the University of Edinburgh, where he took the de- 
gree of doctor of medicine about 1765. The other students from 
Virginia there at the same time were Field, Blair, Bankhead, and 
Gilmer — the earliest pioneers in this profession in the colony, at 
a time when the apothecary, physician, and surgeon were united 
in the same person, and when quackery enjoyed full license. 
Arthur Lee's extreme aversion to slavery and to negroes, and the 
lamentable state of dependence to which he foresaw that his own 
country would be doomed for many years, made him dread to 
return; and he even thought of settling in England, which he 
looked upon as "the Eden of the world, the land of liberty and 
independence." Yet he was conscious of such a want of confi- 
dence in himself as unfitted him for taking up his abode and 
embarking in a profession in a land of strangers.* Gladly 
quitting Scotland, which he disliked extremely, Dr. Lee travelled 
through Europe, and then returned to Virginia, and commenced 
the practice of physic at Williamsburg. Here he could not fail 
to view with interest the stirring events of the day; and although 
successful in his medical practice, the bent of his genius induced 
him to return to London for the purpose of studying the law in 
the Temple, and fitting himself for taking a part in public affairs, 
At this time he became the intimate friend of Sir William Jones. 
In London he associated himself with Wilkes, and other oppo- 

* MS. letter of Arthur Lee, Edinburgh, March 20, 1705. 

(701) 



702 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

nents of the government, and prevailed on them to favor the 
cause of the colonies. In 1768 Dr. Lee was appointed political 
agent of Massachusetts. In 1769 he wrote the Monitor's Let- 
ters, and for some years was a frequent writer in the Public 
Advertiser, over the signature of Junius Americanus; and he held 
an amicable discussion with Junius on American matters.* That 
writer remarked of him: "My American namesake is plainly a 
man of abilities." His writings procured for him the friendship 
of Burke, Dr. Price, and other leading men. He became 
acquainted with the celebrated Dr. Samuel Johnson. In 1770 
Arthur Lee was admitted to the bar, and he enjoyed a lucrative 
practice for some years. In the spring of 1774 he set out on a 
tour through France and Italy; and while at Paris published an 
"Appeal to the People of Great Britain." During the same 
year he succeeded Dr. Franklin as agent of Massachusetts; and 
in the following he was agent for Virginia. The secret commit- 
tee of congress appointed him their London correspondent; and 
through the French ambassador there he obtained early assur- 
ances of aid from France to the colonies. In August he pre- 
sented the second petition of congress to the king. He was 
afterwards made commissioner to France in conjunction with 
Deane and Franklin; and he joined them at Paris in December, 
1776, and assisted in making the treaty of alliance. Discord 
ensuing between Dr. Lee and the other commissioners, involved 
them, especially Lee and Deane, in a controversy, which engen- 
dered an inveterate hostility, and gave rise to factions in con- 
gress, in which the French minister, Gerard, became implicated, 
and which endangered the cause of independence. Deane, who, 
in the guise of a merchant, conducted the public business, was subtle 
and unscrupulous. Mr. Lee had exposed the peculations of some 
of the agents employed in conducting the commercial details of 
the public business; and this interference gave rise to many 
aspersions upon him, which were encouraged by the countenance 
which congress appeared to lend Deane and those associated 
with him. Deane, at length, recalled by congress in November, 



* See Woodfall's Junius, i. 102, where Arthur Lee is erroneously called Dr. 
Charles Lee. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 703 

1777, reached America in the following summer, and gave an 
account of his transactions to congress, making an artful defence 
against Arthur Lee's accusations. Deane published virulent, 
attacks upon him and Richard Henry Lee, and they retorted with 
indignant severity. 

Congress coming to no determination in the matter, Deane 
appealed to the public, in December, in an address to the "Free 
and Virtuous Citizens of America." In 1780 he repaired to 
Paris to adjust his accounts, but never did so; and after refusing 
ten thousand dollars offered him by congress to cover his 
expenses, he fell into pecuniary straits, became alienated from his 
country, (if he had been true before, which was doubted,) writing 
home letters representing the American cause as desperate, and 
favoring immediate accommodation with the enemy. These let- 
ters were intercepted by the enemy and published, and his real 
character was now made manifest. Mr. Jay, who had been his 
friend and supporter, hearing this at Madrid, took down his por- 
trait and burnt it. Deane appears afterwards to have associated 
with the traitor Arnold. Deane died in extreme poverty at Deal, 
England, (1789.) He certainly rendered the colonies great ser- 
vice at one time,* and found a strong party in congress in his 
support, including men of both sections and of high character. 
Mr. Paca, of Maryland, and Mr. Drayton, of South Carolina, 
protested against the further continuance of Dr. Lee in the place 
of commissioner in France and Spain. Dr. Lee's dissensions 
with Dr. Franklin resulted in bitter enmity. Dr. Lee charged 
Franklin with vanity, inflated by French flattery, with overween- 
ing and dictatorial arrogance, with connivance at fraud and cor- 
ruption, and with being under French influence. William Lee 
and Richard Henry sympathized warmly with Arthur in these 
disputes. John Adams sided with the Lees. Arthur Lee, in 
1780, resigning his post, returned to America, and prepared to 
vindicate himself before congress, but that body expressed their 
full confidence in his patriotism. In 1781 he was elected to the 
assembly of Virginia, and returned to congress, where he con- 
tinued to represent the State for several years. He was a pure, 

* Flanders' Lives of Chief Justices, art. Jay. 



704 HISTORY 'OF THE COLONY AND 

earnest, incorruptible patriot, love of country being his ruling 
passion. Of a jealous disposition, and melancholy, discontented 
temperament; of polite manners and strong passions. He was 
well skilled in Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian. He 
never married. He meditated writing a history of the American 
Revolution. In a letter to General Washington, dated at Berlin, 
in June, 1777, he says: "It is my intention to write a history of 
this civil contention. The share you have had in it will form an 
interesting and important part. It will be in your power to pre- 
serve a variety of materials, papers, and anecdotes for such a 
work. May I venture to hope that you may think me so far 
worthy of your confidence as to preserve them for me ? Dubious 
parts of history can be cleared only by such documents, and we 
shall want every authentic record to vouch against the forgeries 
which will be offered to the world."* 

William Lee, brother of Arthur, was born in Virginia, about 
the year 1737. Sent to London as Virginia's agent before the 
Revolution, he took up his residence there. Being a zealous 
whig, he was elected, in 1773, one of the sheriffs of London. At 
the commencement of the Revolution he retired to France, and 
afterwards was appointed by congress their commissioner at 
Vienna and Berlin. An able man, and an ardent and inflexible 
patriot, by communicating important intelligence, and by his 
diplomatic agency, he rendered invaluable services to his country. 
As a writer he was little inferior to Arthur. 

During the year 1780 James Madison took his seat in congress. 
He was born in March, 1751, 0. S., in the County of Caroline, 
Virginia, on the Rappahannock River, near Port Royal, the son 
of James Madison, of Orange County, and Nelly Conway, his 
wife. At the age of twelve young Madison was at school under 
Donald Robertson, a distinguished teacher in the neighborhood, 
and afterwards under the Rev. Thomas Martin, the parish minis- 
ter, a private tutor in his father's family. He was next sent to 
the College of New Jersey, of which Dr. Witherspoon was then 
president. Here Mr. Madison received the degree of bachelor 
of arts in the autumn of 1771. He had impaired his health at 

* Arthur Lee's Life, i. 88. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 705 

college by too close application ; nevertheless, on his return home 
he pursued a systematic course of reading. Shortly after his 
return he signed resolutions of his county approving of Henry's 
proceedings in the affair of the gunpowder. He became a mem- 
ber of the convention in May, 1776, and it was during this ses- 
sion that the body unanimously instructed the deputies of Virgi- 
nia in congress to propose a declaration of independence. He 
did not enter into public debate during this session. At the next 
election he was defeated, his successful opponent being Colonel 
Charles Porter, who was subsequently his frequent colleague in 
the house of delegates. Mr. Madison was at the ensuing session 
appointed a member of the council of state, and this place he 
held till 1779, when he was elected to congress. While he was of 
the council Patrick Henry and Mr. Jefferson were governors. 
Mr. Madison's knowledge of French, of which Governor Henry 
was ignorant, rendered him particularly serviceable in the fre- 
quent correspondence held with French officers: he wrote so 
much for Governor Henry that he was called "the governor's 
secretary." Mr. Madison took his seat in congress in March, 
1780, and continued a leading member until the fall of 1783, 
when his congressional term expired by limitation. Such was 
the commencement of the career of this man so illustrious for his 
genius, his learning, and his virtue, and who was destined to pass 
through every eminent station, and to fill all with honor to him- 
self and benefit to his country and the world. As a writer, a 
debater, a statesman, and a patriot, he was of the first order, and 
his name goes down to posterity one of the brightest of those 
that adorn the annals of the age in which he lived.* 



* The Life of Madison, by the Honorable William C. Rives, is a recent import- 
ant addition to Virginia biography. 

45 



CHAPTER XCVI. 



Logan — Leslie's Invasion — Removal of Convention Troops. 

In the full of 1779 Logan, the Indian chief, had again resumed 
his onslaughts on the banks of the Holston. In June, 1780, 
when Captain Bird, of Detroit, long the headquarters of British 
and Indian barbarity, invaded Kentucky, Logan joined in the 
bloody raid. He was now about fifty-five years of age. Not 
long after this inroad, Logan, at an Indian council held at Detroit, 
while phrenzied by liquor, prostrated his wife by a sudden blow, 
and she fell apparently dead. Supposing that he had killed her, 
he fled to escape the penalty of blood. While travelling alone 
on horseback he was all at once overtaken, in the wilderness 
between Detroit and Sandusky, by a troop of Indians, with their 
squaws and children, in the midst of whom he recognized his 
relative Tod-hah-dohs. Imagining that the avenger was at hand, 
Logan frantically exclaimed that the whole party should fall by 
his weapons. Tod-hah-dohs perceiving the danger, and observing 
that Logan was well armed, felt the necessity of prompt action; 
and while Logan was leaping from his horse to execute his threat, 
Tod-hah-dohs levelled a shot-gun within a few feet of him and 
killed him on the spot. Tod-hah-dohs, or the Searcher, originally 
from Conestoga, and probably a son of Logan's sister who lived 
there, was better known as Captain Logan. He left children, 
(two of whom have been seen by Mr. Lyman C. Draper;) so that 
in spite of Logan's speech some of his blood, at least collaterally, 
still runs in human veins. Logan's wife recovered from the blow 
given her by her husband, and returned to her own people.* 

On the 2d of October, 1780, Major Andre was executed as 
a spy. 

* Brantz Mayer's Discourse on Logan and Cresap, 66. 

(706) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 707 

Beverley Robinson, a son of the Honorable John Robinson, of 
Virginia, president of the colony, removed to New York, and 
married Susanna, daughter of Frederick Philipse, Esq., who 
owned a vast landed estate on the Hudson. When the Revolu- 
tion commenced, Beverley Robinson desired to remain in retire- 
ment, being opposed to the measures of the ministry, and to the 
separation of the colonies from the mother country. The importu- 
nity of friends induced him to enter the military service of the 
crown, and he became colonel of the Loyal American Regiment. 
He was implicated in Arnold's treason, and accompanied Andre 
in the Vulture. Andre, when captured, was taken to Colonel 
Robinson's house, which had been confiscated, and then occupied 
by Washington. Robinson was sent by Sir Henry Clinton as a 
witness in behalf of Andre. 

Prince William Henry, afterwards William the Fourth, was a 
guest of Colonel Robinson, in New York, during the revolu- 
tionary war. Several of his descendants, and those of Captain 
Roger Morris, have attained distinction. Among them Sir 
Frederick Philipse Robinson, son of Colonel Beverley Robinson, 
was an officer of rank under Wellington, and saw hard service in 
the Peninsular war, and was dangerously wounded at the siege of 
St. Sebastians. In the war of 1812 he led the British in the 
attack on Plattsburg, under Prevost.* 

On the twentieth of October, a British fleet, in accordance 
with intelligence which had been communicated by spies and 
deserters, made its appearance in the Chesapeake. General 
Leslie was at the head of the troops aboard. Having landed, 
they began to fortify Portsmouth. Their highest post was Suf- 
folk, and they occupied the line between Nansemond River and 
the Dismal Swamp. A person of suspicious appearance, endea- 
voring to pass through the country from Portsmouth toward 
North Carolina, was apprehended; and upon its being proposed 
to search him he readily consented, but at the same time he was 
observed to put his hand into his pocket and carry something 
toward his mouth, as if it were a quid of tobacco. Upon exami- 
nation it proved to be a letter, written on silk-paper, and rolled 

* Sabine's Loyalists, 562. 



708 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

up in gold-beaters' skin, and nicely tied at each end, so as to be 
no larger than a goose-quill. The letter was as follows : — 

"To Lord Cornwallis : — 

" My Lord, — I have been here near a week, establishing a post. 
I wrote to you to Charleston, and by another messenger by land. 
I cannot hear with certainty where you are. I wait your orders. 
The bearer is to be handsomely rewarded if he brings me any 
note or mark from your lordship. A. L. 

"Portsmouth, Virginia, November 4, 1780." 

It was a source of mortification to Governor Jefferson and 
other patriots that the State was unable to defend herself for 
want of arms. In compliance with the call of the executive, 
General Nelson made an effort to collect the militia of the lower 
counties, and to secure at least the pass at the Great Bridge ; but 
his exertions were ineffectual, as the alarmed inhabitants made it 
their first business to secure their families and property from dan- 
ger. General Lawson, who had at this time raised a corps of five 
hundred volunteers to march to the aid of South Carolina, was 
called on to aid in defending his own State, and General Stevens 
was preparing to march with a detachment of the Southern army 
to her aid when* Leslie sailed for South Carolina to re-enforce 
Cornwallis. Leslie during his stay had abstained entirely from 
depredation and violence. Many negroes who had gone over to 
him were left behind, either from choice or from want of ship- 
room. The chief injury resulting from this invasion was the loss 
of cattle collected for the use of the Southern army. Another 
consequence of it was the removal of the troops of convention 
from the neighborhood of Charlottesville. They marched early 
in October, and crossing the Blue Ridge proceeded along the 
valley to Winchester, where they were quartered in barracks. 
Some of the men occupied a church, and about sixty were confined 
in jail, probably to prevent desertion. The troops were thence 
removed to Fredericktown, Maryland, and afterwards to Lancas- 
ter, Pennsylvania. The German troops of convention remained 

* November fifteenth. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 709 

longer in Albemarle: they were removed early in 1781, and quar- 
tered at Winchester, and the Warm Springs, in Berkley. 

The assembly of Virginia was preparing, in the winter of this 
year, to weather, as well as possible, the storm which was gather- 
ing against her; but without Northern assistance she was hardly 
able to cope with the enemy. She wanted clothes, arms, ammu- 
nition, tents, and other warlike stores. Ten millions of paper 
dollars were issued from necessity, but it was evident that it 
would be as transient, as a dream at the present, and pernicious 
in its consequences; yet without it no resistance could be made 
to the enemy. 



CHAPTER XCVIL 
lrso-irsi. 

Ai'nold's Invasion. 

Toward the close of December, 1780, a fleet appeared within 
the capes of the Chesapeake, with a force detached by Sir Henry 
Clinton from New York, under command of the traitor Arnold. 
A frigate in advance having captured some small vessels, Arnold, 
with the aid of them, pushed on at once up the James. Attempt- 
ing to land at Burwell's Ferry, (the Grove Landing,) his boats 
were beaten off by one hundred and fifty militia of Williamsburg 
and James City, under Colonel Innes and General Nelson. Nel- 
son, on this occasion, retorted a verbal defiance in answer to a 
letter with which Arnold had ushered in his invasion.* 

Leaving a frigate and some transports at Burwell's Ferry, 
Arnold proceededf up the river to Westover. Here landing a 
force of less than eight hundred men, including a small party of 
badly mounted cavalry, he marched for Richmond at two o'clock 
in the afternoon of the same day. Nelson, in the mean while, 
with a handful of militia, badly supplied with ammunition, had 
marched up the right bank of the James River, but arrived too 
late to offer any opposition to the landing of the enemy. Arnold, 
at one o'clock of the next clay after he marched from Westover, 
entered the infant capital without having encountered any resist- 
ance, although his route was very favorable for it. The energetic 
Simcoe, with a detachment, proceeded a few miles beyond Rich- 
mond and destroyed the foundry, emptied the contents of the 
powder magazine, struck off the trunnions of the cannon, and set 

* In a series of replies made by Mr. Jefferson to strictures thrown out upon 
his conduct of affairs at this juncture, the following occurs: "Quei-y — Why 
publish Arnold's letter -without General Nelson's answer? Answer — Ask the 
printer. He got neither from the executive." 

•J- January 4th, 1781. 

(T10) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 711 

fire to the warehouses and mills, the effect of the conflagration 
being heightened by occasional explosions of gunpowder. Many 
small arms and a stock of military supplies were destroyed, and 
five tons of gunpowder thrown into the river. At Richmond 
the public stores fell a prey; private property was plundered and 
destroyed ; the soldiers broke into houses and procured rum ; and 
several buildings were burnt. Part of the records of the auditor's 
office, and the books and papers of the council office shared the 
same fate. 

Governor Jefferson used every effort in his power to remove 
the public stores, and part were rescued by being removed across 
the river at Westham. Late on the night of the fourth he went 
to Tuckahoe, and on the next day went down to Manchester, 
opposite Richmond, where the busy movements of the enemy 
were in full view. When they advanced upon that place only 
two hundred militia were embodied — too small a number to make 
any resistance. The governor, having repaired to Colonel 
Fleming's, in Chesterfield, to meet Steuben, received there a 
message from Arnold, offering not to burn Richmond, on condi- 
tion that British vessels should be permitted to come to it unmo- 
lested and take away the tobacco. The proposition was rejected. 

The inhabitants of Richmond were, for the most part, Scotch 
factors, who lived in small tenements scattered here and there 
between the river and the hill, some on the declivities, a few on 
the summit. Arnold withdrew from Richmond about mid-day on 
the sixth, encamped that night, as he had on the march up, at 
Four-mile Creek, and on the next day at Berkley and Westover. 

Arthur Lee wrote, on the twenty-first of March, from Green- 
spring to Colonel Bland, as follows: "Most certainly you would 
have heard from me could I have found any conveyance but the 
tory-post the wisdom of our people has established, or could I 
have given you a pleasing account of the situation of our affairs 
here. But in truth, it is impossible to conceive a more hopeless 
state than what we are in. Laws without wisdom or justice, 
governments without system or order, complex and heavy taxes 
to raise money which is squandered away no one knows how, or 
wherefore, not half the troops being raised, or those which are 
raised being provided neither with arms, clothes, nor provisions. 



712 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

Twelve millions were spent in two months, and when the enemy 
came, there was neither man, horse, musket, cannon, wagon, boat, 
or any one thing in the world that could be found for our defence. 
In this situation it need not surprise you that Arnold, with a 
handful of bad troops, should march about the country, take and 
destroy what he pleased, feast with his tory friends, settle a regu- 
lar correspondence with them, which he carried on for some time 
in vessels sent up the river and unnoticed, till one happening to 
run aground discovered Mrs. Byrd's correspondence, which, 
however, will produce neither good to us nor injury to her. I 
have reason to think she will not be tried at all, means having 
been taken to keep the witnesses out of the way."* 

Mrs. Maria Byrd, of Westover, was a sister of Thomas 
Willing, Esq., director of the Bank of North America, and 
partner of Robert Morris, and a strenuous opponent of American 
independence. A sister of Mrs. Byrd married Captain Walter 
Sterling, of the British navy. Samuel Inglis, Esq., some time 
resident in Virginia as factor of the house of Willing & Morris, 
under the firm of Inglis & Willing, was a decided opponent of inde- 
pendence. He married the daughter of William Aitcheson, Esq., 
of Norfolk, a Scotch tory, and was brother of Captain Inglis, of 
the British navy.f 

Simcoe, patroling in the night, surprised a party of militia at 
Charles City Court-house, where, after some confused firing, the 
militia fled with small loss ; some few attempting to escape, were 
drowned in a mill-pond. Sergeant Adams, of Simcoe's Regi- 
ment, was mortally wounded, and dying shortly afterwards, was 
buried at Westover, wrapped in some American colors taken a few 
days before at Hoods. Nelson, re-enforced at Holt's Forge by 
a party of Gloucester militia under Colonel John Page, finding 
his force not exceeding four hundred men, retreated. On that 
nighty the British embarked at Westover, and dropped down the 
James to Flower-de-Hundred. Here Simcoe was detached with 



* MS. letter of Arthur Lee in my possession. 

f MS. of Colonel Theodorick Bland, Jr. Arnold's visits to Westover are 
referred to in Edgehill, a novel, by James E. Heath. Esq. 
J Januai'y tenth. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 713 

a force to dislodge some militia at Bland's Mills, and after 
advancing about two miles, the advance guard, in a dense wood, 
were fired on by some Americans posted at the forks of the road 
in front. The British lost twenty men killed and wounded; but, 
charging, put the militia to flight. 

Arnold sending a detachment ashore at Fort Hoods, a skirmish 
ensued with two hundred and forty men in ambuscade, under 
Colonel George Rogers Clarke. The enemy lost seventeen killed 
and thirteen wounded at the first fire, when Clarke being charged, 
found it necessary to retreat. John Marshall was present at this 
affair. The enemy dismantled the fort and carried off the heavy 
artillery. Nelson, in the mean time, by a forced march, reached 
Williamsburg just before the fleet came to off Jamestown. 
Arnold, however, landed part of his forces at Cobham, on the 
opposite side of the river, and marched down, his ships keeping 
pace with and occasionally re-enforcing him. On the next day 
Nelson paraded about four hundred militia at Burwell's Ferry to 
oppose the landing of the enemy. Re-enforcements arriving, 
augmented his force to twelve hundred; but the enemy was now 
beyond their reach. Colonel Griffin and Colonel Temple, with a 
party of light horse, had hovered near the enemy's lines at West- 
over, and followed the fleet as it went down the river. In this 
party were Colonels William Nelson, Gregory Smith, Holt 
Richardson, Major Buller Claiborne, General Lincoln's aid, and 
Majors Burwell, Ragsdale, and others, together with a number of 
young gentlemen. Arnold returned to Portsmouth on the 
twentieth of January without having encountered any serious 
interruption. 

Thus it happened that while the regular troops of Virginia 
were serving at a distance in other States, the militia, after a five 
years' war, was still so unarmed and undisciplined that no effective 
resistance was made to this daring invasion. 

About the time when Arnold reached Portsmouth, some of his 
artillery-men, foraging on the road toward the Great Bridge, were 
attacked, their wagons captured and their officer wounded. 
Simcoe, with a handful of yagers and Queen's Rangers, was 
detached for the purpose of recovering the wagons. Ferrying 
across to Herbert's Point they advanced about a mile, when "an 



714 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIKGINIA. 

artillery-man, who had escaped and lay in the bushes, came out 
and informed him that Lieutenant Rynd lay not far off. Simcoe 
found him shockingly mangled and mortally wounded ; he sent 
to a neighboring farm for an ox-cart, on which the unfortunate 
young gentleman was placed. The rain continued in a violent 
manner, which precluded all pursuit of the enemy; it now grew 
more tempestuous, and ended in a perfect hurricane, accompanied 
with incessant lightning. This small party slowly moved back 
toward Herbert's Ferry; it was with difficulty that the drivers 
and attendants on the cart could find their way; the soldiers 
marched on with bayonets fixed, linked in ranks together, cover- 
ing the road. The creaking of the wagon and the groans of the 
youth added to the horror of the night; the road was no longer 
to be traced when it quitted the woods, and it was a great satis- 
faction that a flash of lightning, which glared among the ruins of 
Norfolk, disclosed Herbert's house. Here a boat was procured, 
in which the unhappy youth was conveyed to the hospital-ship, 
where he died the next day."* 

* Simcoe, 171. 



CHAPTER XCVIII. 



Greene, Commander of Southern Army — Morgan's Victory at Cowpens — Arnold 
at Portsmouth — Battle of Guilford — He-enforced by Phillips — The Enemy at 
Petersburg — Devastations — Phillips proceeds down James River — Returns to 
Petersburg — His Death — Succeeded by Arnold — Simcoe— Virginia Navy — 
John Tyler — John Banister. 

In accordance with a resolution of congress, passed in Novem- 
ber, 1780, General Gates was superseded, and Washington, who 
was required to appoint an officer to fill the vacant post, selected 
General Nathaniel Greene, of Rhode Island. He reached Char- 
lotte, the headquarters of the Southern army, early in December. 
About this time Lee's legion was ordered into South Carolina, 
to a point west of the Catawba. Cornwallis, whose headquarters 
were at Winnsborough, detached Tarleton in pursuit of Morgan, 
who retreated to the Cowpens, and resolved to risk a battle there. 
Tarleton leaving his baggage behind him well guarded, started, 
with his accustomed celerity, at three o'clock in the morning,* in 
pursuit. Before day Morgan received intelligence of his ap- 
proach, and prepared for action. He drew up his regulars and 
Triplett's corps, reckoned not inferior to them, and about four 
or five hundred men, under Howard, on an eminence in an open 
wood. In their rear, on the declivity of the hill, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Washington was posted with his cavalry and some mounted 
Georgia militia as a reserve ; and with these two corps Morgan 
remained in person. The front line was composed of militia, 
under Pickens. Major McDowell, with a battalion of North 
Carolina volunteers, and Major Cunningham, with a battalion of 
Georgia volunteers, were advanced about one hundred and fifty 
yards in front of this line. Morgan's whole force amounted to 
eight hundred men. Soon after the troops were disposed, the 



* February 17th, 1781. 

(715) 



716 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

British van appeared in sight, and Tarleton forming his line of 
battle, his troops rushed forward to the attack, shouting. Mor- 
gan's first line soon retreated into the rear of the second. The 
British advanced in spite of a firm resistance; Tarleton ordered 
up his reserve, and Howard's infantry being outflanked, Morgan 
rode up and directed that corps to retreat over the summit of the 
hill, about one hundred yards, to the cavalry. The British, now 
confident of victory, pressed on, in some disorder, and when the 
Americans halted, were within thirty yards of them. At Howard's 
order, his men turning, faced the enemy, and poured in, unex- 
pectedly, a deadly fire. Howard, perceiving that the enemy's 
ranks were thrown into some confusion, ordered a charge with 
the bayonet, and the British line was broken. The cavalry on 
their right was at the same time routed by Washington. Howard 
and Washington pressed their advantage until the artillery and 
greater part of the infantry surrendered; but Washington pur- 
suing too eagerly, received a temporary check, and sustained a 
heavier loss in this part of the action than in any other. How- 
ever, the infantry advancing to support him, Tarleton resumed his 
retreat.* 

In this battle one hundred British, including ten commissioned 
officers, were killed; twenty-nine commissioned officers and five 
hundred privates made prisoners. A large quantity of arms and 
bago-ag-e and one hundred dragoon horses fell into the hands of 
the victors. Morgan lost less than eighty men in killed and 
wounded. 

Tarleton retreated toward Cornwallis, whose headquarters were 
now twenty-five miles distant. In this action Cornwallis had lost 
one-fifth of his number and the flower of his army. But Greene 
was not strong enough to press the advantage; and Morgan, 



* In the pursuit, Washington advanced near thirty yards in front of his men. 
Three British officers observing this charged upon him. The officer on his 
right aimed a blow to cut him down, when an American sergeant intercepted it 
by disabling his sword arm. The officer on his left was about to make a stroke 
at him, when a waiter saved him by wounding the assailant with a ball from a 
pistol. The officer in the centre, believed to be Tarleton, now made a thrust at 
him, which he parried, upon which the officer retreated a few paces and then 
discharged a pistol at him, which wounded his horse. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 717 

apprehensive of being intercepted by Cornwallis, abandoned the 
captured baggage, interring the arms, and leaving his wounded 
under the protection of a flag, hastened to the Catawba, which he 
recrossed on the twenty-third. The prisoners were sent by Gene- 
ral Greene, under escort of Stevens' brigade of Virginia militia 
to Charlottesville. 

In the mean while Arnold, ensconced, like a vulture, was pre- 
vented from planning new schemes of devastation by apprehen- 
sions that he now began to entertain for his own safety.* Richard 
Henry Lee wrote: "But surely, if secrecy and despatch were 
used, one ship-of-the-line and two frigates would be the means 
of delivering Arnold and his people into our hands; since the 
strongest ship here is a forty-four, which covers all their opera- 
tions. If I am rightly informed, the militia now in arms are 
strong enough to smother these invaders in a moment if a marine 
force was here to second the land operations." 

February the ninth a French sixty-four gun-ship, with two 
frigates, under Monsieur De Tilley, sailed for the Chesapeake, 
and arriving by the thirteenth threatened Portsmouth. But the 
ship-of-the-line proving too large to operate against the post, De 
Tilley, in a few days, sailed back for Rhode Island. It was a 
great disappointment to the Virginians that the French admiral 
could not be persuaded to send a force competent to capture the 
traitor. Governor Jeiferson, in a letter to General Muhlenbure:, 
offered five thousand guineas for his capture; and suggested that 
men might be employed to effect this by entering his quarters in 
the garb of friends — a measure not to be justified even toward 
Benedict Arnold. 

After the battle* of the Cowpens, Greene, closely pursued by 
Cornwallis, retreated across the Dan into Virginia. His lordship 
then proceeded to Hillsborough, then the capital of North Caro- 
lina, where he invited the inhabitants to repair to the royal stand- 
ard. Greene, re-enforced by a body of Virginia militia under 
General Stevens, soon re-entered North Carolina, where numerous 
tories were embodying themselves to join Cornwallis. On the 
twenty-fifth of February, Lee, with his cavalry, by stratagem sur- 

* January 26th, 1781/ 



718 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

prising a body of royalists under Colonel Pyle, cut them to piece?. 
On the fifteenth of March occurred the battle of Guilford. 
Greene's army was much superior in numbers, but consisted 
mainly of militia and new levies. The cavalry of Lee and Wash- 
ington was excellent, but the ground was unfavorable for their 
action. The officers under Greene were mostly veteran. The 
Virginia militia were commanded by Generals Stevens and Law- 
son, and by Colonels Preston, Campbell, and Lynch ; those of 
North Carolina by Generals Butler and Eaton. Of the conti- 
nentals one Maryland regiment alone was veteran. Guilford 
court-house, near the great Salisbury road, stood on a hill which 
descends eastward, gradually, with an undulating slope for half a 
mile, terminating in a little vale intersected by a rivulet. On 
the right of the road the ground was open, with some copses of 
wood ; on the left a forest. Greene, with not quite two thousand 
regulars, was posted at the court-house; in the field to the right 
of the road, the two regiments of Virginia under Huger, the two 
of Maryland under Williams. Three hundred yards in advance 
of the regulars were stationed the Virginia militia, crossing at 
right angles the great road ; and as far in front of them and across 
the same road the North Carolina militia were formed : the 
Virginia line in the woods; the Carolinians partly in the forest 
and partly on its edge, behind a strong rail-fence, in front of 
which lay an open field. Two pieces of artillery, under Captain 
Singleton, were placed in the road a few yards in advance of the 
first line. The right flank was guarded by Washington's cavalry, 
a veteran Delaware company under Kirkwood, and Colonel Lynch 
with a battalion of Virginia militia. The left was guarded by 
Lee's legion and Campbell's riflemen. At about ten o'clock in 
the forenoon, after some firing of artillery, the British, reaching 
the rivulet, deployed into line of battle, the right commanded by 
Leslie, the left by Webster. The North Carolina militia, unable 
to stand the shock, a few excepted, broke, threw away their arms, 
and fled precipitately through the woods. The Virginia line re- 
ceived the enemy with more firmness, but the greater part of them 
were compelled to retreat, which was accelerated by the fall of 
General Stevens, who was wounded in the thigh. The struggle 
between the enemy and the continentals was stoutly contested, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 719 

but the second Maryland regiment unexpectedly giving way, 
Greene was compelled to retreat. Cornwallis pursued but a short 
distance. The American loss in killed and wounded amounted 
to thirty officers and four hundred privates. The British loss 
amounted to five hundred and thirty-two, including several valu- 
able officers. Lieutenant- Colonel Stuart of the guards was killed ; 
Colonel Webster mortally wounded. The total number of Greene's 
army was forty-five hundred, of whom thirty hundred were actually 
engaged. Cornwallis' force, according to American accounts, 
numbered two thousand ; according to his statement, to only four- 
teen hundred and forty-five. After this disastrous victory Lord 
Cornwallis found it necessary to retire toward Wilmington. 

In the mean while Arnold's anxiety for his safety at Ports- 
mouth was relieved by the arrival* of a re-enforcement under 
General Phillips. This accomplished and able but proud and 
passionate officer, exasperated by a tedious captivity, upon his 
exchange had been indulged by Sir Henry Clinton in a desire to 
invade Virginia, and wreak his vengeance on a State where he 
had been so long detained (unjustly as he, not without some 
reason, believed) a prisoner of war. Having united Arnold's 
force with his own, Phillips left Portsmouth,"!" and on the follow- 
ing day the army landed at Burwell's Ferry, from which the 
militia fled. Phillips, with the main body, marched upon Wil- 
liamsburg, and entered it without serious opposition. Simcoe, 
with a small party of cavalry, early next morning surprised a 
few artillery-men at Yorktown, (the rest escaping across the river 
in a boat,) and burnt "a range of the rebel barracks." The 
British sloop, Bonetta, anchored off the town. How little did 
the parties engaged in this little episode anticipate the great 
event which was destined soon to make that ground classic ! The 
Bonetta, too, was destined to return to that picturesque place to 
play her part in the closing scene. Phillips, embarking at Bar- 
ret's Ferry, near the mouth of the Chickahominy, issued "the 
strictest orders to prevent privateers, the bane and disgrace of 
the country which employs them;" but these orders were disre- 
garded. When off Westover, he issued further orders, saying: 

* March twenty-seventh. •}• April eighteenth. 



720 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

"A third object of the present expedition is to gain Petersburg, 
for the purpose of destroying the enemy's stores at that place, 
and it is public stores alone that are intended to be seized." A 
body of two thousand five hundred men under Phillips landed at 
City Point,* and passed the night there; and on the next morn- 
ing (Wednesday) marched upon Petersburg, by way of Colonel 
Banister's Whitehall plantation, where they halted in the heat 
of the day and refreshed themselves. Steuben, with a thousand 
men, disputed the entry of the town. At about two o'clock the 
British advanced in two columns by the old road leading by the 
Blandford Church, and were opposed by a party of militia posted 
on the heights, just beyond Blandford, under Captain House, of 
Brunswick, and Colonel Dick. The enemy were twice broken, 
and ran like sheep, and during two hours advanced only one mile. 
At length the battalion of Americans posted at the Bollingbrook 
warehouses, near the Blandford Bridge, being flanked by four 
pieces of artillery, were compelled to retire over the Appomattox, 
taking up Pocahontas Bridge as soon as they had crossed it, ten 
men being killed in ascending the hill. On this hill Steuben had 
placed some troops and cannon to cover his retreat. The Ameri- 
can loss, killed, wounded, and taken, in this affair was estimated 
at sixty; that of the British probably not less, there having been, 
according to Colonel Banister, not less than fourteen killed ; their 
wounded were sent down the river in gun-boats. Abercrombie, 
who commanded the British infantry on this occasion, was the 
same who afterwards fell in Egypt. Phillips, taking possession 
of Petersburg, made his headquarters at Bollingbrook, a private 
residence, on an eminence overlooking the river. He destroyed, 
next day, a large quantity of tobacco, the people removing it 
from the warehouses to save it from the flames. One of them 
was set fire to by a soldier and burnt. The enemy also destroyed 
several vessels. The bridge over the Appomattox being readily 
repaired, Abercrombie, with a detachment, passed over on the 
twenty-sixth, and took possession of the heights opposite the 
town, known as Archer's Hill. Phillips, with his whole army, 
crossing on the same day, burnt the bridge, and proceeded to 

* April twenty third. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 721 

commit devastations at Chesterfield Court-house, Osbornes, and 
at Warwick, destroying the American vessels, and shipping off 
the tobacco. This being private property, its destruction was in 
violation of his recent order. At Manchester a detachment 
destroyed the warehouses and tobacco, and several dwelling- 
houses, the militia and inhabitants of Richmond being quiet spec- 
tators of the scene. Proceeding from Osbornes to Bermuda 
Hundred, the British embarked there and sailed down the river 
as far as Hog Island, where Phillips, receiving orders by an 
advice-boat, returned up the river, as far as Brandon, the seat of 
Benjamin Harrison, where the troops landed in a gale of wind. 
Colonel Theodorick Bland, Sr., received the following protection: 
"It is Major-General Phillips' positive orders that no part of the 
property of Colonel Theodorick Bland receive any injury from 
his majesty's troops. 

"April 25th, 1781. 
"J. W. Noble, aide-de-camp Major-General Phillips. 

"Major-General Phillips is very happy to show this favor on 
account of Colonel Bland Junior's many civilities to the troops 
of convention at Charlottesville." 

Notwithstanding this, Colonel Bland's place of residence, 
Farmingdell, in Prince George County, was plundered by the 
British troops : his furniture broken to pieces ; china-ware pounded 
up; tobacco, corn, and stock destroyed, and negroes taken off. 
General Phillips being taken ill, found it necessary to travel in a 
carriage, which was procured for him by Simcoe. 

Part of the troops were sent* to City Point in boats; the rest 
marched upon Petersburg, arrived there late in the night, and 
surprised a party of American officers engaged in collecting boats 
for L;i Fayette to cross his army.f La Fayette, with a strong 
escort, appeared on the heights opposite Petersburg, and the 
artillery, under Colonel Gimat, cannonaded the enemy's quarters. 
Bollingbrook, where General Phillips lay ill of a bilious fever, 
being exposed to the fire, it was found necessary to remove him 
into the cellar, and it is commonly reported that he died while the 
firing was going on. This mistake appears to have originated 

* May ninth. f Tenth. 

46 



722 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

with Anburey, "who, in his Travels, mentions that during the 
cannonade, the British general, then at the point of death, ex- 
claimed, "My God, 'tis cruel: they will not let me die in peace!" 
Anburey, being himself a prisoner of war, was not in favorable 
circumstances for obtaining accurate information on this subject. 
It appears that the cannonading took place three days before the 
death of General Phillips. He died on the thirteenth. La 
Fayette, aware that Bollingbrook was headquarters, directed 
some shot particularly at that house, which, from its elevated 
site, afforded a conspicuous mark. This proceeding was provoked 
by the horrid series of devastations which Phillips had just per- 
petrated in company of the traitor Arnold. Two balls struck 
the house, it is said, one passing through it. General Phillips 
lies buried in the old Blandford Churchyard. Miller,* a historian 
of his own country, observes that it would have been a fortunate 
circumstance for his fame "had he died three weeks sooner than 
he did."f 

Upon the death of General Phillips the command devolved 
on Arnold, and he sent an officer with a flag and a letter to La 
Fayette. As soon as he saw Arnold's name subscribed to the 
letter he refused to read it, and told the officer that he would hold 
no intercourse whatever with Arnold; but with any other officer 
he should be ever ready to interchange the civilities which the 
circumstances of the two armies might render desirable. Wash- 
ington highly approved of this proceeding. 

Already before the death of General Phillips, Simcoe had been 
detached from Petersburg to meet Cornwallis, who was advancing 
from North Carolina. Simcoe, on his route to the Roanoke, 
captured, some miles to the south of the Nottoway River, a Colo- 
nel Gee, at his residence, "a rebel militia officer," who, refusing 

* Hist, of England. 

-j- Bollingbrook, deriving its name from the family of Boiling, who owned much 
of the land on which the town of Petersburg was built, consisted of two frame 
buildings, or wings, standing apart, it having been designed to connect them by 
a maiu building, which, however, was never done. The eastern tenement was 
burned down some years ago, and thus was lost an interesting memento of the 
Revolution. A representation of it may be seen in Lossing's "Field Book of the 
Revolution." 



ANCIENT DOMINION OP VIRGINIA. 723 

to give Ms parole, was sent prisoner to Major Armstrong. An- 
other "rebel," Colonel Hicks, mistaking Simcoe's party for an 
advanced guard of La Fayette's army, was also made prisoner. 
At Hicks' Ford, a captain and thirty militia-men were taken by a 
ruse cle guerre, and compelled to give their paroles. Here Sim- 
coe, on his return toward Petersburg, met with Tarleton and his 
"legion clothed in white." 

During this year (1781) Captain Harris, with the little brig 
Mosquito, after taking two prizes, in a voyage to the West Indies 
was captured by the British frigate Ariadne, and carried into 
Barbadoes. The men were confined there in jail and prison-ships: 
the officers taken to England and incarcerated in Fortune Jail, at 
Gosport. Driven by cruel usage to make a desperate attempt at 
escape, they succeeded, and returned to America, and again bore 
arms against the enemy. Among them were Lieutenant Cham- 
berlayne, Midshipman Alexander Moore, Alexander Dick, cap- 
tain of marines, and George Catlett, lieutenant of marines. 
Shortly after the capture of the Mosquito, the Raleigh fell into 
the enemy's hands, and her crew were no less maltreated. The 
brig Jefferson, under command of Captain Markham, captured 
several prizes. 

Among those distinguished for their gallantry in the little navy 
of Virginia was Captain Samuel Barron, (son of Commodore 
James Barron,) afterwards of the United States navy. Captain 
John Cowper, of Nansemond County, was in command of the 
Dolphin brig, with a crew of seventy-five men. Embarking on 
a cruise, he nailed his flag to the mast-head, and declared that he 
would never strike it to an enemy. Engaging shortly after with 
two British vessels, she was seen no more, and it is supposed that 
she sunk during the action. 

John Tyler was born at his father's residence, near Williams- 
burg, in James City County, in 1748. His father, whose name 
he bore, was marshal for the colony, anil his mother was the 
daughter of Doctor Contcsse, one of the Protestants driven from 
France by the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and who found 
a home in Virginia. John Tyler, the younger of the two sons of 
this union, (the elder of whom died young,) enjoyed frequent op- 
portunities of hearing the debates in the house of burgesses, and 



721 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

heard Patrick Henry in the stormy discussion on his resolutions 
in 1765, and in the decline of life still related with animation his 
recollections of that debate. He became so decided an opponent 
of the tyrannical pretensions of the mother country that his 
father often predicted that, sooner or later, he would be executed 
for high treason. Mr. Tyler studied the law under Mr. Robert 
Carter Nicholas, and while thus engaged formed an acquaintance 
with Thomas Jefferson which ripened into a friendship terminated 
only by death. The society of the ardent Jefferson fanned the 
flame of young Tyler's patriotism, and he became at an early 
day the advocate of independence. About the year 1774, having 
obtained his license, he removed to Charles City, where he took 
up his permanent abode. Successful in the practice of the law, 
he was after a brief interval elected a delegate from that county. 
He was re-elected for several years,, his colleague for the greater 
part of that time being Benjamin Harrison, Jr., of Berkley, 
whom Mr. Tyler succeeded as speaker of the house of burgesses. 
After the lapse of many years Mr. Tyler's son, of the same name, 
succeeded General William Henry Harrison, son of Benjamin 
Harrison, Jr., in the Presidency of the Union. Mr. Tyler, the 
revolutionary patriot, while a member of the assembly, contracted 
an intimate friendship with Patrick Henry, for whom he enter- 
tained an almost idolizing veneration. They corresponded for 
many years. Mr. Tyler participated largely in the debates, and 
on all occasions exhibited himself a devoted patriot, and thorough- 
bred republican. In subsequent years he was governor of Vir- 
ginia and judge of the United States district court. In private 
life his virtues won regard, in public his integrity and talents 
commanded the confidence of his country. 

John Banister was the son of an eminent botanist, of the same 
name, who settled in Virginia toward the close of the seventeenth 
century, and devoted himself to the study of plants. In one of 
his botanical excursions, near the falls of the Roanoke, he fell 
from a rock and was killed. As a naturalist he was esteemed 
not inferior to Bartram. John Banister, the son, was educated 
in England, and bred to the law at the Temple. He was a bur- 
gess of the assembly, and afterwards a distinguished member of 
the convention of 1776. In the following year he was an active 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 725 

member of the assembly. He visited the headquarters of the 
American army about the time of the battle of Germantown. 
In 1778-9 he was a member of congress at York, and at Phila- 
delphia, and in September visited headquarters as member of the 
committee of arrangement. He was one of the framers of the 
articles of confederation. In 1781 he was lieutenant-colonel of 
cavalry under General Lawson. The two other colonels in the 
brigade were John Mercer, afterwards governor of Maryland, 
and James Monroe, subsequently President of the United States. 
Lawson's corps was dissolved when Leslie retired from Virginia, 
and thus the horse commanded by Colonel Banister was lost to 
the State, at a time when cavalry was so pressingly required. 
During the invasions which Virginia was subjected to, Colonel 
Banister was actively engaged in the efforts made to repel the 
enemy. Proprietor of a large estate, he suffered repeated and 
heavy losses from the depredations of the British. At one time, 
it is said, he supplied a body of troops, on their way to the South, 
with blankets at his own expense. 

A miniature likeness of him is said to be preserved by his 
descendants in Amelia County. Of an excellent and well culti- 
vated mind, and refined manners, he was in private life amiable 
and upright, in public generous, patriotic, and enlightened. As 
a writer he may be ranked with the first of his day. A number 
of his letters have been published in the Bland Papers, and 
several, addressed to Washington, in Sparks' Revolutionary Cor- 
respondence. 

Colonel Banister resided near Petersburg, at Battersea, which 
house he built. Chastellux visited it in 1781. Colonel Banister 
married, first, Mary, daughter of Colonel Theodorick Bland, Sr. 
Of this union there were three children ; but this whole branch is 
extinct. Colonel Banister's second wife was Anne, sister of 
Judge Blair, of the federal court. There were two sons of this 
marriage: Theodorick Blair, and John Monro. Theodorick Blah- 
Banister married Signora Tabb. Children surviving, (1856:) 
Monro, Tudor, Yelverton, and two daughters. John Monro 
Banister married Mary B. Boiling. Children surviving: Wil- 
liam C. Banister, the Rev. John Monro Banister, and three 
daughters. 



CHAPTER XCIX. 



Cornwallis at Petersburg — La Fayette retreats — Simcoe's Expedition — Tarle- 
ton's Expedition — Cornwallis marches toward Point of Fork — Devastations of 
the Enemy — Peter Francisco — La Fayette re-enforced by Wayne — Cornwallis 
retires — Followed by La Fayette — Skirmish at Spencer's Plantation — Action 
near Jamestown — La Fayette. 

Coknwallis marched* from Wilmington for Petersburg. To 
facilitate the passage of the rivers, two boats, mounted on car- 
riages, accompanied the army. Tarleton led the advance. While 
the army was yet on the left bank of the Roanoke, Cornwallis, 
who had passed it, upon overtaking Tarleton's detachment, 
ordered them to be dismounted and formed in line for the inspec- 
tion of the inhabitants, to enable them to discover the men who 
had committed certain horrid outrages on the preceding evening. 
A sergeant and a dragoon being pointed out as the offenders, 
were remanded to Halifax, condemned by a court-martial, and 
executed. His lordship was prompted to such acts of discipline 
not only by his moderation and humanity, but also by a desire to 
avoid any new exasperation of the people, and by a hope of 
alluring the loyalists to his standard. On the 19th of May, 1781, 
he reached Petersburg, and with the remnant of his Carolina 
army he now united the troops under Arnold, consisting of 
a detachment of royal artillery, two battalions of light in- 
fantry, the 76th and 80th British regiments, the Hessian regi- 
ment of the Prince Hereditaire, Simcoe's corps of cavalry and 
infantry, called the "Queen's Rangers," chiefly tories, one hun- 
dred yagers, and Arnold's American legion, likewise tories, the 
whole amounting to about two thousand five hundred men, which, 
together with the Carolina army, made his lordship's aggregate 
force at Petersburg about four thousand five hundred. The 

* April twenty-fifth. 

(726) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 727 

entire field force now under his command in Virginia was not 
less than seven thousand three hundred, including four hundred 
dragoons and seven or eight hundred mounted infantry. He 
received intelligence from Lord Rawdon of his having defeated 
Greene, at Hohkirk's Hill. Cornwallis remained three or four days 
at Petersburg. Light troops and spies being despatched to discover 
La Fayette's position, he was found posted near Wilton, on the 
James River, a few miles below Richmond, with a thousand regu- 
lars and three thousand militia, the main body of them under 
command of General Nelson. La Fayette was expecting re-en- 
forcements of militia and Wayne's Pennsylvania Brigade. In 
compliance with the orders of Governor Jefferson, continental 
officers were substituted in the higher commands of the militia. 
Three corps of light infantry, of two hundred and fifty each, of 
select militia marksmen, were placed under command of Majors 
Call, Willis, and Dick of the continental line. La Fayette's 
cavalry comprised only the remnant of Armand's corps, sixty in 
number, and a troop of volunteer dragoons under Captain Carter 
Page, late of Baylor's Regiment. General Weedon, not now in 
service, owing to a diminution in the number of officers, was re- 
quested to collect a corps of militia to protect a manufactory of 
arms at Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg. Tarleton patroled 
from Petersburg as far as Warwick, and, surprising a body of 
militia, captured fifty of them. In the mean while General 
Leslie arrived at the mouth of the James with a re-enforcement 
sent by Clinton from New York. Cornwallis, upon receiving in- 
telligence of it, ordered Leslie to repair to Portsmouth with the 
17th British Regiment, two battalions of Anspach, and the 43d, 
to join the main army. His lordship now proceeded with his 
forces to Macocks, on the James, opposite to Westover, where, 
being joined by the 43d, he crossed over, the passage occupying 
nearly three days, the horses swimming by aid of boats, the river 
there being two miles wide. 

Arnold obtained leave to return to New York, "where business 
of consequence demanded his attendance." The British officers 
had found it irksome to serve under him. Cornwallis afterwards 
told La Fayette that as soon as he joined the army in Virginia, 
he took the first occasion to send Arnold down to Ports- 



728 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

mouth, and expressed disgust at associating with a person of his 
character. 

The force concentrated by Cornwallis amounted to eight thou- 
sand. La Fayette, hearing of this movement of the enemy, 
crossed the Chickahominy and retreated toward Fredericksburg, 
with a view of protecting the arsenal at Falmouth and of meeting 
Wayne. Cornwallis pursued with celerity, but finding La Fayette 
beyond his reach, gave out the chase, and encamped on the banks of 
the North Anna, in Hanover. La Fayette, who had been hotly pur- 
sued by Tarleton, retreated precipitately beyond Fredericksburg ; 
and it was on this occasion that Cornwallis, in a letter, said of La 
Fayette: "The boy cannot escape me." The Marquis de Chas- 
tellux says: "All I learnt by a conversation with Mr. Bird* was 
that he had been pillaged by the English when they passed his 
house in their march from Westover in pursuit of Monsieur de la 
Fayette, and in returning to Williamsburg, after endeavoring 
in vain to come up with him. It was comparatively nothing to 
see their fruits, fowls, and cattle carried away by the light troops, 
which formed the van-guard; the army collected what the van- 
guard had left; even the officers seized the rum and all kinds of 
provisions without paying a farthing for them; this hurricane, 
which destroyed everything in its passage, was followed by a 
scourge yet more terrible : a numerous rabble, under the title of 
Refugees and Loyalists, followed the army, not to assist in the 
field, but to partake of the plunder. The furniture and clothes 
of the inhabitants were in general the sole booty left to satisfy 
their avidity ; after they had emptied the houses, they stript the 
proprietors, and Mr. Bird repeated with indignation that they 
had taken from him by force the very boots from off his legs." 
"Mr. Tilghman, our landlord,! though he lamented his misfortune 
in having lodged and boarded Lord Cornwallis and his retinue 
without his lordship's having made him the least recompense, 
could not yet help laughing at the fright which the unexpected 
arrival of Tarleton spread among a considerable number of gen- 
tlemen who had come to hear the news, and were assembled at 



* Landlord of the Ordinary in New Kent. 
| At Hanover Court-house. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 729 

the court-house. A negro on horseback came full gallop to let 
them know that Tarleton was not above three miles oft'. The 
resolution of retreating was soon taken; but the alarm was so 
sudden and the confusion so great that every one mounted the 
first horse he could find, so that few of those curious gentlemen 
returned upon their own horses." 

From his army encamped in Hanover, Cornwallis detached 
Simcoe with five hundred men, Queen's Rangers and yagers, with 
a three-pounder, the cavalry amounting to one hundred. The 
object of this expedition was to destroy the arsenal lately erected 
at the Point of Fork, and the military stores there. The Point 
of Fork is contained between the Rivanna and the James, in the 
County of Fluvanna. At the same time his lordship detached 
Tarleton with his legion, and one company of the 23d Regiment, 
with the design of capturing Governor Jefferson and the members 
of the assembly, then convened at Charlottesville, and also of 
destroying military stores. 

During the recent incursions of Phillips and Arnold a state 
arsenal had been established at the Point of Fork, and military 
stores collected there with a view to the prosecution of the war 
in the Carolinas. The protection of this post had been entrusted 
to Baron Steuben, who had acquired a knowledge of the military 
art under Frederick the Great. Steuben's force consisted of be- 
tween five and six hundred new levies, (originally intended for 
the Southern army,) and a few militia under General Lawson. 
Cornwallis informed Simcoe that the baron's force was only three 
or four hundred; but Simcoe held the earl's military intelligence 
in slight respect. Thus he says:* "He had received no advices 
from Lord Cornwallis, whose general intelligence he knew to be 
very bad." "The slightest reliance was not to be placed on any 
patroles from his lordship's army." 

Lieutenant Spencer, with twenty hussars, formed Simcoe's ad- 
vanced guard of chosen men mounted on fleet horses. Simcoe 
crossing the South Anna, pushed on with his usual rapidity by 
Bird's Ordinary toward Napier's Ford on the Rivanna. Corn- 
wallis, with the main body, followed in Simcoe's route. No in- 

* Simcoe's Journal, 22G. 



730 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

habitant of the country coming within view escaped capture. 
From some of the prisoners intelligence was obtained that Steu- 
ben was at the Point of Fork and in the act of crossing to the 
south side of the James. The baron adopted this measure in 
consequence of intelligence of Tarleton's incursion. Within two 
miles of Steuben's camp a patrol of dragoons appeared, was chased 
and taken ; it consisted of a French officer and four of Armand's 
corps. The advanced men of Spencer's guard changed clothes 
with the prisoners for the purpose of attempting to surprise the 
baron at the only house at the Point of Fork. Just as Simcoe 
was about to give the order to his men to lay down their knap- 
sacks in preparation for an engagement, the advanced guard 
brought in a prisoner, Mr. Farley, Steuben's aid, who had mis- 
taken them for the patrol which had just been captured. He 
assured Simcoe that he had seen every man over the James 
before he left the Point of Fork, and this was confirmed by 
some captured wagoners. Simcoe's cavalry advancing, plainly 
saw the baron's force on the opposite side. About thirty of 
Steuben's people, collected on the bank where the embarcation 
had taken place, were captured. Simcoe, thus disappointed, em- 
ployed stratagem to persuade the baron that the party was Earl 
Cornwallis' whole army, so as to cause the arms and stores that 
covered the opposite banks to be abandoned. Captain Hutchin- 
son, with the 71st Regiment clothed in red, was directed to 
approach the banks of the James, while the baggage and 
women halted in the woods on the summit of a hill, where they 
made the appearance of a numerous corps, the woods mystifying 
their numbers, and numerous camp-fires aiding the deception. 
The three-pounder was carried down and one shot fired, by which 
was killed the horse of one of Steuben's orderly dragoons. The 
baron was encamped on the heights on the opposite shore, about 
three-quarters of a mile back from the river. He had passed 
the river in consequence of intelligence of Tarleton's incursion, 
which he apprehended was aimed at him. The river was broad 
and unfordable, and Steuben was in possession of all the boats. 
Simcoe himself was now in an exposed position ; but his anxiety 
was relieved when the baron's people were heard at night destroy- 
ing their boats with great noise. At midnight they made up their 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 731 

camp fires. Soon after a deserter and a little drummer-boy 
passed over in a canoe, and gave information that Steuben had 
marched off on the road by Cumberland Court-house toward 
North Carolina. The drummer-boy belonged to the 71st Regi- 
ment; he had been taken prisoner at the Cowpens, had enlisted 
in Morgan's army, and now making his escape happened to be 
received by a picket-guard which his own father commanded. On 
the following day, by aid of some canoes, Simcoe sent across the 
river Captain Stevenson with twenty light infantry, and Cornet 
Wolsey with four hussars, who carried their saddles with them. 
The infantry detachment were ordered to bring off such supplies 
as Simcoe might need, and to destroy the remainder. The hus- 
sars were directed to mount upon such straggling horses as they 
could find, and patrol in Steuben's wake. Both orders were exe- 
cuted ; the stores were destroyed and Steuben's retreat accelerated. 
Simcoe in the mean while employed his men in constructing a. 
raft by which he might pass the Rivanna. There was destroyed 
here a large quantity of arms, the greater part of them, however, 
out of repair, together with ammunition and military stores. The 
quantity and value of property destroyed were exaggerated by 
the enemy; as also was Steuben's force. Simcoe took away a 
mortar, five brass howitzers, and four long brass nine-pounders, 
all French, mounted afterwards at Yorktown. According to his 
opinion a small guard left by Steuben would have protected these 
stores. The disaster was probably owing to a want of accurate 
military intelligence. Simcoe held Steuben's military qualifica- 
tions in high estimation; but his opinion of La Fayette was the 
reverse. 

Mean while Tarleton, passing rapidly along the road by Louisa 
Court-house, met with some wagons laden with clothing for the 
Southern army, and burnt them. Learning that a number of 
gentlemen, who had escaped from the lower country, were assem- 
bled, some at Dr. Walker's, the others at Mr. John Walker's,* 
Tarleton, instead of advancing at once upon Charlottesville, 
despatched Captain Kinloch with a party to Mr. John Walker's, 



* Belvoir, about seven miles from Charlottesville, and the residence of the late 
Judge Hugh Nelson. The house has been burnt down. 



732 niSTORY OF THE colony and 

■while he proceeded with the rest to the doctor's mansion, where 
he surprised Colonel John Syrne, half-brother to Patrick Henry, 
Judge Lyons, and some other gentlemen who were found asleep, 
it being early in the morning.* Captain Kinloch captured 
Francis Kinloch, his relative, a delegate to congress from South 
Carolina, together with William and Robert Nelson, brothers to 
General Thomas Nelson. There is a family tradition that when 
this Captain Kinloch was about to leave England, the ladies of 
his family begged him not to kill his cousin in America, and that 
he replied, "No, but I will be sure to take him prisoner," which 
playful prediction was now fulfilled. f A Mr. Jouitte, mounted on 
a fleet horse, conveyed intelligence of Tarleton's approach to 
Charlottesville, so that the greater part of the members of the 
assembly escaped. J Tarleton, after a delay of some hours, 
entered Charlottesville ; seven of the delegates fell into his hands, 
and the public stores Avere destroyed. Captain McCleod, with a 
troop of horse, visited Monticello with a view of capturing Mr. 
Jefferson; but he had about sunrise received information of 
Tarleton's approach. Some members of the assembly, and the 
speakers of both houses, who were his guests, hastened to Char- 
lottesville; Mrs. Jefferson and her children hurried off in a car- 
riage, and Mr. Jefferson followed afterwards on horseback, a few 
minutes before McCleod reached the house. The magnificent 
panorama of mountain scenery visible there must have afforded 
him and his dragoons some compensation for the disappointment. 
While Tarleton was in the neighborhood of Charlottesville, some 
British and Hessian prisoners of the convention troops cantoned 



* It is said that, as one of the gentlemen, who was rather embonpoint, and who 
in (his emergency had found time to put on nothing but his breeches, ran across 
the yard in full view of the British dragoons, they burst into a fit of laughter at 
so extraordinary a phenomenon. 

•j- Francis Kinloch, of Kensington, South Carolina, meeting, in passing, with 
Eliza, only daughter of Mr. John Walker, who was also at Philadelphia attend- 
ing congress, is said to have fallen in love with her at first sight, she having at 
the moment just come from her hair-dresser, and he afterwards married her; and 
Eliza, only daughter of that union, became the wife of the late Judge Hugh Nel- 
son, United States Minister at Madrid. 

\ The general assembly presented him with a horse fully caparisoned and a 
pair of pistols for his vigilance and activity. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 733 

with the planters, joined him. The prisoners of distinction, whom 
he had captured, were treated with lenity, being detained only a 
few days on their parole not to escape; "the lower class were 
secured as prisoners of war." The prisoners of note were released 
at Elkhill, a plantation of Mr. Jefferson's, where Cornwallis for 
ten days made his headquarters. This plantation was laid waste 
by the enemy. Wherever his lordship's army went, plantations 
were despoiled, and private houses plundered. During the six 
months of his stay in Virginia she lost thirty thousand slaves, of 
whom the greater part died of small-pox and camp fever; and 
the rest were shipped to the West Indies, Nova Scotia, etc. The 
devastations committed during these six months were estimated 
at upwards of thirteen millions of dollars.* 

Peter Francisco, a soldier of the Revolution, celebrated for his 
physical strength and personal prowess, lived long in the County 
of Buckingham, Virginia, and died there. His origin is obscure : 
he supposed that he was a Portuguese by birth, and that he was 
kidnapped when an infant, and carried to Ireland. He had no 
recollection of his parents, and the first knowledge that he 
retained of himself was of being in that country when a small 
boy. Resolving to come to America, he indented' himself to a 
sea-captain for seven years, in payment of his passage. On 
arriving in Virginia he was indented to Anthony Winston, Esq., 
of Buckingham, and labored on his estate until the breaking 
out of the Revolution. Being then at the age of sixteen he ob- 
tained permission to enlist in the army. At the storming of Stony 
Point he was the next, after Major Gibbon, to enter the fortress, 
and he received a bayonet wound in the thigh. He was present 
in the battles of Brandywine, Monmouth, the Cowpens, Camden, 
and Guilford Court-house. In the last-mentioned action, where 
he belonged to Colonel Washington's dragoons, his strong arm 
levelled eleven of the enemy. His bravery was equal to his 
strength. 

During the year 1781, while reconnoitring alone, and stopping 
at a house in Amelia, now Nottoway, he was made prisoner by a 
detachment of Tarleton's dragoons. But availing himself of a 

* Burk, iv. 



734 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

favorable opportunity, when one of the British was stooping to 
take off his silver shoe-buckles, Francisco wounded him with his 
own sword, and another, and by a ruse frightened off the rest of 
the party, who fled, leaving their horses, although Tarleton's corps 
was in full view. This exploit was illustrated by an engraving, 
published in 1814, a favorite ornament of the drawing-room. 
Peter Francisco was in height six feet and one inch : his weight 
was two hundred and sixty pounds: his strength Herculean. He 
used a sword of extraordinary size. His complexion was that of 
a native of the south of Europe, his eye dark, his whole appear- 
ance massive, unique, and remarkable. An excellent portrait of 
him was made by Harding. John Randolph, of Roanoke, brought 
the attention of congress to Peter Francisco's military services 
in an interesting memoir, and applied for a pension for him. He 
was in old age made sergeant-at-arms to the house of delegates.* 
The condition of affairs in Virginia in the summer of 1781 was 
gloomy, humiliating, apparently almost desperate. After a war 
of five years the State was still unfortified, unarmed, unprepared. 
But it Avas asked, did not every Virginian possess a gun of some 
kind, and was it not with such arms that the battles of Bunker 
Hill and of the Cowpens were fought? Virginia had entered 
upon the war when she was already loaded with debt, and 
exhausted by her Indian war, and by her non-importation policy, 
before the war began. Intersected by rivers, she was everywhere 
exposed to the inroads of the enemy; and a dense slave popula- 
tion obstructed the prompt movement of the militia. The dark- 
ness of the future was relieved by a single ray of hope derived 
from the uncertain rumors of the sailing of a French fleet for 
America; but frequent disappointment rendered hope of help 
from that quarter precarious. The bulk of the people were 
staunch whigs and well affected to the French alliance; but they 
were growing despondent, and some were even beginning to fear 
that France was prolonging the war so as to weaken America as 
well as Great Britain, and to render the new confederation de- 
pendent upon its allies. With the aid of a superior French fleet 
there could be no doubt of the successful issue of the war ; with- 

* Howe's Hist. Coll. of Va., 207. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 735 

out that aid, there was too much reason to fear that the people 
could not be kept much longer firm, in so unequal a contest. 

La Fayette, joined by Wayne's brigade, eight or nine hundred 
strong, marched toward Albemarle old court-house, where some 
magazines remained uninjured by the British, and he succeeded 
in saving them from Tarleton's grasp. La Fayette at this place 
was joined by Colonel Campbell,' the hero of King's Mountain, 
with his riflemen. Cornwallis, in accordance with advices from 
Clinton, retired to the lower country, and was followed by La 
Fayette, who had, in the mean time, above Richmond been re- 
enforced by Steuben with his new levies and some militia. Corn- 
wallis halted for a few days at Richmond ; Simcoe being posted 
at Westham ; Tarleton at the Meadow Bridge. La Fayette's 
army amounted to four thousand five hundred, of whom one-half 
were regular ; and of these, fifteen hundred were veterans ; he was 
still inferior to his lordship in numbers, by one-third, and very 
deficient in cavalry. Cornwallis, leaving the picturesque hills of 
Richmond on the 20th of June, 1781, reached Williamsburg on 
the twenty-fifth. La Fayette followed, and passing Richmond 
arrived at New Kent Court-house on the day after the British 
general had left it. La Fayette took up a position on Tyre's 
plantation, twenty miles from Williamsburg. Cornwallis having 
detached Simcoe to destroy some boats and stores on the Chicka- 
hominy, he performed the service with his accustomed prompt- 
ness. La Fayette discovering Simcoe's movement, detached 
Colonel Butler, of the Pennsylvania line, in quest of him. But- 
ler's van consisted of the rifle corps under Majors Call and Willis 
and the cavalry; the whole detachment, not exceeding one hun- 
dred and twenty effectives, was led by Major McPherson, of 
Pennsylvania. Having mounted some infantry behind the rem- 
nant of Armand's dragoons, he overtook Simcoe, on his return, 
near Spencer's plantation, about six miles above Williamsburg, 
at the forks of the roads leading to that place and to Jamestown. 
The ground there, in Simcoe's phrase, was "admirably adapted 
to the chicanery of action." The suddenness of McPherson's 
attack threw the yagers into confusion, but they were firmly sup- 
ported by the Queen's Rangers, to whom the alarm was given by 
trumpeter Barney, exclaiming: "Draw your swords, Rangers; 



736 HISTORY OP THE COLONY AND 

the rebels are coming!" Barney himself captured a French 
officer. Call and Willis having now joined McPherson, a warm 
conflict ensued; and Simcoe found occasion for all his resources. 
The advanced party of Butler's corps was repulsed, and fell back 
in confusion upon the continentals, and Simcoe, satisfied with this 
advantage, retired. Both parties claimed the advantage in this 
rencontre, the loss of the British being eleven killed and twenty- 
six wounded; that of the Americans was not reported, except 
that three officers and twenty-eight privates were made prisoners ; 
the number of their killed and wounded probably exceeded that 
of the British.* Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe considered this 
action as "the climax of a campaign of five years." Major 
McPherson was unhorsed, but crept into a swamp, and so escaped. 
Simcoe, after retreating two miles toward Williamsburg, met 
Cornwallis with the advance of his army coming to his relief. 
Colonel Butler, the American commander in this affair, was the 
same who afterwards fell at St. Clair's defeat. 

Late in June, Cornwallis, with an escort of cavalry under Sim- 
coe, visited Yorktown for the purpose of examining the capabili- 
ties of that post ; and his lordship formed an unfavorable opinion 
of it. The party was ineffectually fired at from Gloucester 
Point, and returned on the same day to Williamsburg. After 
halting here nine days, Cornwallisf marched, and encamped near 
Jamestown Island, for the purpose of crossing the James and 
proceeding to Portsmouth. The Queen's Rangers passed over 
the river in the evening of the same day to cover the baggage 
which was now transported. La Fayette, as Cornwallis had pre- 
dicted, now advanced with the hope of striking at the rear-guard 
only, of the enemy, supposing, upon imperfect intelligence, that 
the main body had already crossed. Accordingly, about sunsetj 
La Fayette attacked Cornwallis near Greenspring, and after a 
warm conflict was compelled to retreat, having discovered that he 
was engaged by the main body of the British. Of the continen- 
tals one hundred and eighteen were killed, wounded, or taken. 
Some cannon also fell into the hands of the enemy. The British 

* Simcoe, 227. Plan of the skirmish opposite 236. 

f Fourth of July. J July 6th, 1781. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 737 

state their loss at five officers and seventy privates killed and 
■wounded. Cornwallis now crossed the James unmolested and 
marched* for Portsmouth. 

La Fayette, re-enforced by some dragoons from Baltimore, 
retired to a strong position near the head of York River. The 
militia had already been discharged. 

* July ninth. 



47 



CHAPTER C. 

XT81. 

Capture of the Patriot — The Barron s and Captain Starlins — Battle of the Barges. 

While the British men-of-war and transports were assembled 
in Hampton Roads, in co-operation with Cornwallis, in the spring 
and summer of 1781, the small craft were engaged in frequent 
depredations, going up the James as far as Jamestown, and look- 
ing into the smaller streams for plunder. To afford some little 
relief to the distressed inhabitants, for the most part women, the 
men being at sea, or in the army, or prisoners, it was determined 
to employ the only vessel then afloat belonging to the State — the 
schooner Patriot. She was small, and mounted only eight two- 
pounders; but she had more than once captured vessels of twice 
her calibre. Captain Watkins having received his orders, pro- 
ceeded at once down the James River upon this service. For 
some weeks a sloop, supposed to be a privateer, had been commit- 
ting depredations, and Watkins determined to overhaul her. Two 
young Virginians were on the north side of the James, in the 
County of Elizabeth City, endeavoring day after day to cross the 
river and find a safer refuge on the south side of it. Daily 
emerging from a small house, "in the great gust-wood," where 
they found temporary shelter, they repaired to the river side, dis- 
tant about three miles, looking out for some craft to convey them 
across. In company of the two brothers was a negro, a native 
of Africa, who had been brought to Virginia in his youth, and 
had soon evinced an ardent attachment to it. He was an expert 
pilot, and a devoted "patriot." On a Sunday morning, as the 
trio stood on the river bank, at a point in Warwick County, they 
espied the schooner Patriot in chase of the plundering sloop, and 
apparently gaining fast upon her. The negro, known as Captain 
Starlins, at this spectacle, gave noisy utterance to his extrava- 
gant joy, hopping about and clapping together his uplifted hands. 
The three hoped soon to witness the capture of the sloop ; but it 
(738) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 739 

turned out that she was purposely retarded in her course by a 
drag thrown out over her starboard bow, and the Patriot coming 
alongside of her, there suddenly up jumped fifty marines, and in 
a moment the Patriot was captured.* The three spectators be- 
held the catastrophe with intense disappointment. From the 
zenith of hope Captain Starlins had been suddenly plunged souse 
down to the nadir of despair. He and the younger of the brothers 
burst into tears, while the older brother, fifteen years of age, 
although no less grieved, had more command over his sensibilities. 
Giving a parting look to the unfortunate schooner as she dis- 
appeared in the hazy distance, they retraced their steps. "Wat- 
kins and those under him were sent off" to Charleston, and confined 
in the provost prison, where he died. The Patriot was taken 
round to Yorktown. Captain Mark Starlins died a slave a few 
years after, and just before the passage of a law giving freedom 
to those men of color who had served the patriotic cause. His 
slavery, however, appears to have been merely nominal; for his 
master fully appreciated his noble character, and which was held 
in high estimation by all worthy citizens, especially by all the 
navy officers of Virginia. The two brothers were the Barrons, 
afterwards distinguished in the United States naval service. f 

In 1782 Maryland sent out Commodore Whaley, with some 
barges, to protect the Eastern Shore of that State against buca- 
neering crafts manned by British sailors, and tories, and negroes. 
Receiving information of the appearance of a flotilla of such 
barges in the Chesapeake Bay, under command of a Commodore 
Kid, a Scotchman, Whaley, deeming them too strong for him, 
solicited aid from Colonel John Cropper, commander of Accomac 
County, who, with a party of volunteers, re-enforced him. Colo- 
nel Cropper, with several Accomac gentlemen, went on board 



* Such is the account given by Commodore Barron from his early recollec- 
tions. It appears, however, that lie and his companions were misled by appear- 
ances, and that the Patriot was engaged with the British sloop for two hours, 
and twice attempted to board her, but ineffectually. At length the sloop cut 
away the Patriot's main halliards, and her main-sail fell to the deck; when, re- 
ceiving a broadside, and being no longer manageable, the Patriot struck her 
colors. — [Va. Navy of Revolution, S. Lit. Me$sr. } 1857, p. 147.] 

f Va. Hist. Register, i. 127. 



740 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

the Protector, the commodore's barge. Whaley having requested 
those in the other barges to support him in case the enemy should 
make a push at him, they promised to do so, " or all sink to- 
gether." The enemy's barges were descried in the morning of 
the thirtieth of November, in Cagey's Straits: they soon hove to, 
and formed in line. The action commenced at half-past nine 
o'clock, and lasted twenty-five minutes. The foremost of Whaley 's 
barges having fired a few shot at long distance, retreated. He, 
nevertheless, with the Protector advanced to within fifty yards of 
the enemy, exposed to their fire, and returning it warmly. A gun- 
ner, in handing an eighteen-pounder cartridge out of the chest, hap- 
pened to break it, aud the spilt powder, although water had been 
poured upon it, caught fire from the flash of the small arms, and 
the chest exploded, producing great confusion on board, killing 
two or three, and causing a number of men, some with their 
clothes on fire, to jump overboard. The enemy, encouraged by 
this, pushed on with redoubled fury, and Whaley was deserted by 
his other five barges, who fled ingloriously, leaving their com- 
mander to his fate. Three of Kid's barges were already along- 
side of him, when a second ammunition chest exploded, renewing 
the scene of disaster and confusion. Lieutenant Handy enquired 
of Whaley whether it would not be better to strike : he replied 
that he should not strike. Colonel Cropper describes the action 
at this time as "a continual shower of musket bullets, pikes, cold 
shot, cutlasses, and iron stantials, for eight or ten minutes." The 
Protector being overpowered by numbers, most of the men being 
driven from their quarters, she was surrendered, the general cry 
being for quarter, which, however, the enemy refused. The 
barge was now boarded by the blacks with brutal cruelty. In 
this action all the Protector's officers were either killed or 
wounded. Whaley fell, killed by a musket ball ; Captain Handy 
fell fighting with one arm, after the other had been broken. 
Lieutenant Handy was severely wounded. Of the sixty-five men 
that went into action in the Protector twenty-five were killed or 
drowned, and twenty-nine wounded, some mortally. Of the Ac- 
comac volunteers Captain Christian was killed with a musket 
ball. Captain William Snead, Mr. John Reville, and Colonel 
Cropper, were wounded. Among those thrown into the water 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 741 

by the explosion was William Gibb, a Scotchman, for many years 
deputy clerk of Accomac. He could not swim, and was sinking 
when his friend, Captain Parker, seized him by the hair, and 
kept him afloat until they both were picked up by the enemy. 
As long as Gibb lived, which was forty-five years thereafter, he 
had an annual feast at his house on the thirtieth of November, 
the anniversary of the Battle of the Barges.* 

Colonel Cropper at the age of nineteen was captain of the 
9th Virginia Regiment in the continental line: and in 1776 was 
made major in the 5th Regiment.f He was with Washington in 
the Jerseys, and present at the battles of Monmouth and Brandy- 
wine. For his good conduct in the latter he was promoted. 

* I am indebted to Dr. Levin S. Joynes for some MSS. relative to the Battle 
of the Barges. 

f Levin Joynes, of Accomac, became at the same time major in the 9th, and 
Thomas Snead, of the same county, major in the 7th Regiment. 



CHAPTER CI. 

17S1. 

Washington — Cornwallis occupies Yorktown — Battle of Eutaw Springs — Henry 
Lee — Washington invests Yorktown — Capitulation. 

In the North, Washington retained a self-possessed mind. So 
the eagle from his mountain watch-tower looks down and surveys 
with serene eye the tempest and the storm forming beneath his 
feet. Re-enforced by the French troops under Rochambeau, and 
a fleet, he was concerting measures to expel Clinton from New 
York, believing that in this way he could give the enemy the 
more fatal blow, and afford the South the more effectual relief. 
But he resolved, in case he should find this design impracticable, 
to transfer the scene of war to the South. Cornwallis was ad- 
vised by Sir Henry to select a post on the Chesapeake, conve- 
nient for wintering a fleet — either Yorktown or Old Point. 
Washington requested La Fayette to endeavor to prevent Corn- 
wallis from marching to Charleston, and Wayne was, accordingly, 
despatched to the south side of the James to watch his move- 
ments.* Cornwallis having selected Yorktown, occupied it and 
Gloucester Point, on the opposite side of the York, and proceeded 
to fortify them. 

Early in August, Washington received from the Count de 
Barras the information that the Count de Grasse might be ex- 
pected shortly to reach the Chesapeake with a formidable fleet. 
Washington now determined to transfer the war to the South; 
but to deceive Clinton he made his arrangements secretly, and 
continued his apparent preparations against New York. Corn- 
wallis concentrated the whole British force in Virginia at York- 
town and Gloucester Point by the twenty-second of August. 
The latter post was held by the 80th Regiment, the Hessian 

* August 2d, 1781. 
(742) 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 743 

regiment of the Prince Hercditaire, and the Queen's Rangers — 
the whole under command of the brave and energetic Colonel 
Dundas, of the artillery. Tarlcton, with his cavalry, afterwards 
passed over to Gloucester Point. La Fayette, in consequence of 
the movements of the enemy, broke up his camp on the Pamun- 
key, and drew nearer to Yorktown. Washington, having con- 
certed with the French commanders a plan of operations, with 
the combined American and French forces, marched for Virginia, 
the army being put in motion on the nineteenth, and having 
completed the passage of the Hudson on the twenty-fifth. Sir 
Henry Clinton did not suspect that the movement was for the 
South until the third of September. 

On the thirtieth of August, De Grasse, with twenty-eight ships 
of the line and several frigates, arrived from the West Indies, 
and entered the Chesapeake. At Cape Henry he found an officer 
despatched by La Fayette with intelligence of the situation of 
the two armies. On the following day his advanced ships blocked 
up the mouth of the York. While the French fleet lay at anchor 
just within the Chesapeake, a squadron was descried early in the 
morning of September the fifth, consisting of nineteen ships-of- 
the-line, under Admiral Graves. De Grasse immediately formed 
his line and put to sea; and a partial engagement occurred. 
Several ships were damaged, but the result was indecisive. For 
some days the fleets continued within view of each other, after 
which De Grasse returned to his moorings within the capes. 
Here he found* De Barras with a squadron newly arrived from 
Rhode Island, bringing artillery and stores proper for carrying 
on a siege. Graves looking in at the capes found the French 
fleet too strong for him, and returned to New York. La Fayette 
made his headquarters at Williamsburg, twelve miles from 
Yorktown. 

On the 8th of September, 1781, the battle of Eutaw Springs, 
in South Carolina, took place. The British army, commanded by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart, being encamped at that place, Greene 
marched at four o'clock in the morning, to attack the enemy, 
seven miles distant. Upon approaching them Greene formed his 

* September tenth. 



744 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

first line of militia under Marion and Pickens. The second was 
composed of continental infantry and the North Carolina 
Brigade, commanded by General Sumner, on the right; the Vir- 
ginians, under Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, in the centre; the 
Marylanders, under Colonel Williams, on the left. Lee's legion 
covered the right flank; South Carolinians, under Colonel Hen- 
derson, the left; and Washington's cavalry, with Kirkwood's 
infantry, formed the reserve. Captain Gaines, with two three- 
pounders, was attached to the first line, and Captain Brown, with 
two sixes, to the second. 

The British were drawn up across the roa'd obliquely, — in a 
wood, on the heights near the Eutaw Springs, having their right 
flank on Eutaw Creek. The flanks were protected by infantry 
and cavalry ; and a body of infantry was held in reserve. The 
British advanced party was soon driven in. The militia, after 
maintaining themselves firmly for awhile, were compelled to re- 
tire before the advancing enemy, and their place was filled by 
Sumner's North Carolina Brigade, which, supported by Lee and' 
Henderson on the flanks, went into action with great intrepidity. 
The British fell back to their first ground. Henderson was disa- 
bled by a wound. At Sumner's brigade giving way the British 
rushed forward in some disorder. Greene directed Williams and 
Campbell to charge with the bayonet, and Washington to bring 
up the reserve. Williams charged without firing a musket; but 
Campbell's regiment, chiefly new levies, returned the enemy's 
fire as they advanced. Lee now ordered Captain Rudolph, of the 
legion infantry, to turn the enemy's flank, and give them a raking 
fire. This being done, the British left was broken, and, driven off 
the field retreated through their tented camp toward Eutaw 
Creek, where was a brick house, into which a part of them threw 
themselves. The Americans pursuing closely, took three hundred 
prisoners and two pieces of cannon. 

Washington charging the enemy's right with his cavalry suf- 
fered a heavy loss. He himself had his horse killed, and was 
wounded and made prisoner. The enemy now rallied, and Greene, 
finding it impossible to dislodge them, retired. It was an ex- 
tremely hard-fought battle. The loss of the Americans was five 
hundred and fifty-five, including sixty officers. One hundred and 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 745 

thirty were killed. Seventeen officers were killed, and four mor- 
tally wounded. Among the slain was Lieutenant-Colonel Camp- 
bell, who fell while leading the Virginia Brigade on to the charge. 
This excellent officer, on being told just before he expired, that 
the Americans were victorious, exclaimed, " Then I die con- 
tented." The loss of the British was six hundred and ninety- 
three, of whom eighty-five were killed on the field. Greene made 
five hundred prisoners. The combatants were about equal in 
number, and the question of victory was left undecided. Greene 
was, as a military leader, esteemed as second only to General 
Washington. 

Henry Lee was born in Westmoreland, Virginia, on the 29th 
of January, 1756, being son of Colonel Henry Lee* and Mary 
Bland, of Jordans. Henry receiving his early education from a 
private tutor at home, afterwards pursued his studies at the Col- 
lege of New Jersey, under the presidency of Dr. Witherspoon, 
and graduated there in 1774, in his eighteenth year. While 
in college, Dr. Shippen predicted his future distinction. In 1776, 
when twenty years of age, on the nomination of Patrick Henry, 
he was appointed a captain in Colonel Bland's regiment of 
cavalry. In September of the following year the regiment joined 
the main army, where Lee, by his discipline, vigilance, and effi- 
ciency, soon won the confidence of Washington, who selected him 
and his company for a body-guard at the battle of Germantown. 
While Lee lay near the British lines, a numerous body of cavalry 
surprised him in his quarters, a stone house, where he had with 
him but ten men. Yet with these he made a gallant defence, 
and obliged the enemy to retreat, after having lost four men 
killed, together with several horses, and an officer with three 
privates wounded. Of his own party, besides the patrols and 
quartermaster-sergeant, who were made prisoners out of the 
house, he had but two wounded. Washington complimented Lee 
on his gallantry in this little affair, and congress shortly after 
promoted him to the rank of major with the command of an inde- 
pendent partisan corps of horse. July 19th, 1779, he surprised 
the British garrison at Paulus Hook, and was rewarded by con- 

* For many years a member of the house of burgesses. 



746 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

gress with a gold medal. Early in 1780 Lee, now lieutenant- 
colonel, with his legion, consisting of cavalry and infantry, joined 
the army of the South, under General Greene. In his retreat 
before Cornwallis, Lee's legion formed part of the rear-guard of 
the American army. During the retreat, Lee charged success- 
fully upon Tarleton's dragoons. After Greene had effected his 
escape, he detached Lee, with Pickens, to watch the movements of 
Cornwallis. Lee, with his legion, by a stratagem surprised four 
hundred armed loyalists under Colonel Pyle, of whom ninety 
were killed and many wounded. 

At the battle of Guilford Lee's legion distinguished itself. 
When Cornwallis retired to Wilmington, it was by Lee's advice 
that Greene moved at once into South Carolina. Lee, detached 
with his legion, joined the militia under Marion. Several forts 
speedily surrendered. Lee now joined Pickens, for the purpose 
of attacking Fort Augusta, which was reduced. In the unfortu- 
nate assault upon Fort Ninety-Six, Lee was entirely successful in 
the part of the attack intrusted to his care. At the battle of the 
Eutaw Springs he bore a distinguished part ; and General Greene 
declared that his services had been greater than those of any other 
man attached to the Southern army. As a partisan officer he 
was unsurpassed. He was a soldier, an orator, and a writer; 
and in his Memoirs has given a graphic picture of the war in the 
South. He was about five feet nine inches high, well proportioned, 
of an open, pleasant countenance, and of a dark complexion. His 
manners were frank and engaging, his disposition generous and 
hospitable. He was twice married: first to Matilda, daughter 
of Philip Ludwell Lee, by whom he had a son, Henry, and a 
daughter, Lucy; and afterwards to Ann, daughter of Charles 
Carter, of Shirley, by whom he had three sons, Charles Carter, 
Robert, and Smith, and two daughters, Ann and Mildred. Gene- 
ral Henry Lee resided at Stratford. His statue is to be placed 
on the Richmond Monument. Among the officers of Lee's legion 
were Armstrong, Rudolph, Eggleston, and Carrington. 

Washington, accompanied by Rochambeau and the Marquis De 
Chastellux, reaching Yorktown on the fourteenth of September, 
and repairing on board the Ville de Paris, the admiral's ship, 
arranged the plan of the siege. By the twenty-fifth, the combined 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 747 

army, amounting to twelve thousand men, together with five thou- 
sand militia under General Nelson, was concentrated at Williams- 
burg. The allies advanced upon York and invested it, the Ameri- 
cans forming the right below the town, the French the left above it, 
and each extending from the borders of the river, so as to completely 
circumvent the town. General De Choisy invested Gloucester Point 
with three thousand men. The enemy's communication by water 
was entirely cut off by ships stationed at the mouth of the river, 
some ten miles below Yorktown. Cornwallis, some time before 
this, finding his situation growing so critical, had anxiously soli- 
cited aid from Sir Henry Clinton ; and it was promised, but never 
arrived. Washington was assisted during the siege by Lincoln, 
Steuben, La Fayette, Knox, and others. The French were com- 
manded by General the Count De Rochambeau. On the twenty- 
ninth the British commenced a cannonade, and during the night 
abandoned some redoubts, and retired within the town. Colonel 
Scammel, while reconnoitring the ground just abandoned by the 
enemy, was .surprised by a party of horse, and, after he had sur- 
rendered, received a wound from a Hessian, of which he died in a 
few days, greatly lamented. On the third of October, in a skir- 
mish before Gloucester Point, Tarleton was unhorsed, and narrowly 
escaped being made prisoner. The British sent out from York- 
town a large number of negroes infected with the small-pox. On 
the night of the seventh the first parallel was extended two miles 
in length, and within six hundred yards of the British lines. By 
the evening of the ninth, several batteries being completed, Wash- 
ington himself put the match to the first gun, and a heavy fire 
was opened, and the cannonade continued till the fifteenth. 
Cornwallis was driven from Secretary Nelson's house. 

Upon the breaking out of the Revolution, the Secretary had 
retired from public affairs. He lived at Yorktown, where he had 
erected a handsome house. Cornwallis made his headquarters in 
this house, which stood near the defensive works. It soon at- 
tracted the attention of the French artillery, and was almost 
entirely demolished. Secretary Nelson was in it when the first 
shot killed one of his negroes at a little distance from him. 
What increased his solicitude was that he had two sons in the 
American army; so that every shot, whether fired from the town 



748 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

or from the trenches, might prove equally fatal to him. When a 
flag was sent in to request that he might be conveyed within the 
American lines, one of his sons was observed gazing wistfully at 
the gate of the town by which his father, then disabled by the 
gout, was to come out. Cornwallis permitted his withdrawal, 
and he was taken to Washington's headquarters. Upon alighting, 
with a serene countenance he related to the officers who stood 
around him what had been the effect of their batteries, and how 
much his mansion had suffered from the first shot. A red-hot 
ball from a French battery set fire to the Charon, a British 
forty-four gun-ship, and two or three smaller vessels, which were 
consumed in the night. They were enrobed in fire, which ran 
like lightning over the rigging and to the tops of the masts. A 
second parallel was completed, and batteries erected within three 
hundred yards of the enemy's works. The British had two re- 
doubts about three hundred yards in front of their lines, and it 
was resolved to take them by assault. The one on the left of 
the enemy bordering the banks of the river was assigned to a 
brigade of light infantry under La Fayette, the advanced corps 
being conducted by Colonel Alexander Hamilton, assisted by 
Colonel Gimat. The attack commenced at eight o'clock in the 
evening, and the assailants entered the fort with the point of the 
bayonet, without firing a gun. The American loss was eight 
killed and thirty wounded. Major Campbell, who commanded 
the redoubt, was wounded and made prisoner, with about thirty 
soldiers ; the rest escaped. During the assault, the British kept 
up a fire along their whole line. Washington, Lincoln, and Knox, 
having dismounted, stood in an exposed position awaiting the 
result. The other redoubt, on the right of the British, was taken 
at the same time by a detachment of the French commanded by 
Baron De Viomenil. He lost about one hundred men killed and 
wounded. Of the enemy at this redoubt eighteen were killed and 
forty-five captured, including three officers. 

By this time many of the British guns were silenced, and their 
works were becoming ruinous. About four o'clock in the morn- 
ing of the sixteenth, Colonel Abercrombie, with four hundred men, 
made a sortie against two unfinished redoubts occupied by the 
French ; the British, after spiking some cannon, were driven back, 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 749 

with a small loss on each side. One hundred pieces of heavy 
artillery were now in full play against the enemy, and he had 
nearly ceased firing. In this extremity, Lord Cornwallis formed 
a desperate design of attempting to force his way to New York, 
his plan being to leave his sick and baggage behind, to cross 
over the York River in the night to Gloucester Point with his 
effective force, and, overwhelming De Choisy there, his lordship 
intended to mount his men on captured horses, and, by forced 
marches, gain the fords of the rivers, and thus make his way 
through Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Jersey, to New York. 
Boats were in readiness under other pretexts, at ten o'clock of 
the night of the sixteenth, and the arrangements were con- 
ducted with so much secrecy that the first division arrived at 
Gloucester Point unperceived, and part of the troops were landed, 
when a violent storm drove the boats down the river, and it was 
not till daylight that they returned to Yorktown. The plan 
being frustrated, the boats were sent to bring back the soldiers, 
and they were relanded on the south side during the forenoon. 
At about ten o'clock in the forenoon of the seventeenth, the Bri- 
tish beat a parley, and by a flag requested a cessation of hostili- 
ties for twenty-four hours, to settle terms for the surrender of 
the posts. Washington granted a suspension of hostilities for 
two hours for the reception of his lordship's proposals in writing. 
These having been received, the suspension was prolonged. The 
commissioners for adjusting the terms of the capitulation were 
the Viscount De Noailles and Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens, in be- 
half of the allies; and Colonel Dundas and Major Ross, in behalf 
of the British. The place of meeting was Moore's House, at 
Temple Farm, in the rear of the first parallel. A rough draft 
of the articles of capitulation was made on the eighteenth, to be 
submitted to the respective generals. Washington sent a fair 
transcript of the articles to Lord Cornwallis early on the morning 
of the nineteenth, together with a letter restricting the interval 
allowed for signing the capitulation to eleven o'clock, and that 
for the actual surrender to two o'clock in the afternoon of that 
day. His lordship acquiesced, and on the 19th of October, 1781, 
the British army surrendered. At about twelve o'clock the com- 
bined army was drawn up along a road in two lines, about twenty 



750 HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND 

yards apart, and extending more than a mile, the Americans on 
the right, the French on the left. At the head of the American 
line Washington appeared on horseback, surrounded by his aids 
and the American staff; at the head of the French line and oppo- 
site to Washington was posted Count Rochambeau, surrounded 
in the same way. At two o'clock the captive army advanced 
between the allied lines in column, slowly, and in exact order. 
Profound silence reigned during this scene,* which recalled to 
mind the awful vicissitudes of human fortune, awoke commisera- 
tion for the captives, and suggested the consequences of this great 
event. Lord Cornwallis, under the pretext of indisposition, de- 
clined being present, and his place was filled by General O'Hara. 
This gallant officer, mounted on a fine charger, upon reaching 
the head of the line, mistook Count Rochambeau, on his left, for 
the commander-in-chief; bat quickly discovering his error, flew 
across the road to Washington, asked pardon for his mistake, 
apologized for the absence of Lord Cornwallis, and begged to 
know his further pleasure. Washington courteously referred him 
to General Lincoln, who had been compelled to surrender at 
Charleston, for his guidance. Returning to the head of the 
column, it moved under the guidance of Lincoln to the field 
selected for laying down the arms. The men manifested their 
embittered feelings, and Colonel Abercrombie was observed to 
hide his face when his men threw down their muskets. 

The post at Gloucester Point was surrendered about the same 
time. The command of the British there had recently been 
assumed by Tarleton, Dundas being required to be present on 
the south side of the river. Tarleton, before the surrender, 
waited on General De Choisy, and made known to him the appre- 
hensions which he entertained for his personal safety, in case he 
should fall into the hands of the American militia, and requested 
his protection. The clanger was imaginary; and the general 
readily agreed to ensure his safety. Tarleton surrendered 
his force to the legion of the Duke De Lauzun and Mercer's 



* Lee's Memoirs, 370. Colonel Lee, despatched by Greene to the North on 
public business, happened to be present during the siege and at the surrender, 
and has given a graphic description of them. 



ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 751 

corps, the residue of the allied detachment not even being pre- 
sent to witness the spectacle. The number of prisoners sur- 
rendered at the two posts was upwards of seven thousand, who, 
with the artillei-y, arms, military chest, and stores, were given 
up to Washington, the ships and seamen to Count De Grasse. 
The loss sustained by the garrison during the siege of eleven 
days amounted to five hundred and fifty-two, including six officers. 
The allied force amounted to sixteen thousand men, being, conti- 
nentals five thousand five hundred, French seven thousand, 
militia three thousand five hundred. Loss in killed and wounded 
during the siege, about three hundred. 

In the adjustment of the articles of capitulation, Cornwallis had 
insisted strenuously upon two points : first, that the prisoners of 
war should be allowed to return to Europe, upon condition of not 
serving against the United States or France, until exchanged; 
second, security for American citizens-who had joined the British 
armies. Both were rejected; but the latter was virtually ad- 
mitted, by permitting his lordship to send away the Bonetta with 
despatches to Sir Henry Clinton, free from search. In this way 
his lordship conveyed away the most obnoxious loyalists securely 
to New York ; but Lord Cornwallis, in soliciting this favor, pledged 
himself that no officer should go in this way without Washington's 
consent. In his orders of the twentieth,, the commander-in-chief 
congratulated the army on this glorious event, and declared that 
it was owing to the assistance of the French allies. He returned 
his profound acknowledgments to them, mentioning with special 
honor Count De Rochambeau, the Baron De Viomenil, the Cheva- 
lier De Chastellux, the Marquis De St. Simon, the Count De 
Viomenil, and General De Choisy. The gallant French troops 
shared in the applause bestowed on the whole army. Generals 
Lincoln, La Fayette, Steuben, and Knox, together with Colonels 
Carney, and D'Abbeville, received the highest praise. The ser- 
vices of the gallant and patriotic General Nelson, commander of 
the militia, were recognized with no less distinction. A general 
amnesty was granted; and all belonging to the army that were 
under arrest were pardoned and restored to the ranks, that they 
might participate in the universal joy. Washington concluded 
the order in these words: "Divine service shall be performed 



752 ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. 

to-morrow in the different brigades and divisions. The commander- 
in-chief recommends to all the troops that are not upon duty to 
assist at it with a serious deportment and that sensibility of heart 
which the recollection of the surprising and particular interposi- 
tion of Providence in our favor claims." 

Sir Henry Clinton, with a fleet of twenty-five ships-of-the-line, 
two fifty gun-ships, and eight frigates, commanded by Admiral 
Digby, and having on board seven thousand chosen troops, ap- 
peared off the capes of Virginia on the twenty-fourth — they 
having sailed from Sandy Hook on the very day of the surrender. 
Sir Henry finding that he had arrived too late, set sail on the 
twenty-ninth, from the mouth of the Chesapeake, and returned 
to New York. 

As the drama of the Revolution was opened in Virginia by 
Henry, so it was now virtually terminated here by Washington 
and his companions in arms. With this glorious event closes this 
history of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia. 



INDEX. 



Accomao, 55, 261, 305. 

Adams, John, 621, 652. 

Adams, Samuel, 568, 581. 

Agriculture, 349, 614. 

Albemarle colony, 258. 

Albemarle, Earl of, governor-in-chief, 
450. 

Alexander, Archibald, 429, 490. 

Alexandria, Braddock quartered at, 
472. 

Algonquin tribes, 269. 

Arnadas, Captain, 21. 

Amsterdam, New, captured by Argall, 
111. 

Andros, Sir Edmund, governor, 347 ; 
charges against him, 356 ; remanded 
to England, 357. 

Appomattox River discovered, 65, 
268, 307. 

Appomattox town, 107, 264. 

Appomattox Indians, 40, 307. 

Argall. Captain Samuel, captures 
Pocahontas, 107 ; his expedition 
against the French in Acadia, 111 ; 
reduces Dutch fort at Manhattan, 
111 ; governor of Virginia, 124 ; his 
tyranny, 127 ; departure from Vir- 
ginia, 129 ; is knighted, 129. 

Arlington, Earl of, 274. 

Armada, Spanish, 27. 

Arnold, Benedict, invades Virginia, 
710; returns to Portsmouth, 713; 
his position there, 717; joins Phil- 
lips in second invasion, 719 ; suc- 
ceeds Phillips, 722 ; La Fayette re- 
fuses to correspond with, 722 ; 
returns to New York, 727. 

Assembly of Virginia firsl held, 139; 
petitions the King, 172 ; the holding 
of, disallowed by Charles the First, 
179 ; Charles the First desires as- 



48 



sembly to be called, 181 ; declara- 
tion of, against restoration of Vir- 
ginia Company,200; loyally of, 213, 
251 ; supreme power claimed by, 
238 ; sends address to Charles the 
Second, 251 ; demonstrations of its 
loyalty, 253; proceedings of, during 
Bacon's Rebellion, 296-7; journals 
ofj seized, 320 ; " Bacon's Laws" 
repealed by, 322 ; Culpepper calls 
one ; Beverley, clerk of, persecuted, 
335; opposes governor's negative, 
and is prorogued. 339 ; Nicholson 
refuses to call, 345 ; held in college, 
364; ceremony of opening, 364; 
acts of, 376 ; Spotswood dissolves, 
395 ; Spotswood prorogues, 399 ; 
loyalty of, 417 ; passes relief acts, 
507, 509 ; resolutions of, against 
stamp act, 540-41 ; thanks of, given 
to Washington, 504; remonstrates 
against proceedings of British go- 
vernment, 543 ; Botetourt dissolves 
557 ; he calls together, 558 ; dis- 
approves of Episcopate, 561 ; pro- 
ceedings of, 570 ; Dunmore dis- 
solves, 573 ; votes thanks to Dun- 
more for his conduct of Indian war, 
594; first under republican consti- 
tution, 672; proceedings of, 681. 

acon, Nathaniel, Jr., his servant 
and overseer slain by Indians, 
286; leader of insurgents, 287; 
proclaimed a rebel ami pursued by 
Berkley, 289 ; marches into wilder- 
ness and massacres tribe of Indians. 
289; elected burgess, arrested, and 
released, 289 ; sues for pardon, 290: 
restored to council, 291 ; Berkley 
issues secret warrants for his arrest 

(753) 



754 



INDEX. 



and he escapes, 292 ; re-enters 
Jamestown and extorts a commis- 
sion, 293 ; countermarches against 
governor, 299; calls convention, 
301 ; exterminates Indians, 307 ; 
marches upon Jamestown, 308 ; 
puts governor to flight and burns 
Jamestown, 310; dies, 311; pun- 
ishment of his adherents, 313, 317, 
320, 321, 322. 

Bacon, Elizabeth, wife of Nathaniel 
Bacon, Jr., 312, 329. 

Bacon, Nathaniel, Sr., member of 
council, 292 ; member of court-mar- 
tial, 315 ; auditor, 327 ; president of 
council. 344 

Bacon, Elizabeth, wife of Nathaniel 
Bacon, Sr., 344. 

Bacon Quarter Branch, 421. 

Baltimore, George, Lord, visits Vir- 
ginia ; procures grant of territory 
from Charles the Etist, 183. 

Baltimore, Cecilius, Lord, patentee of 
Maryland, employs Leonard Cal- 
vert to settle a colony there, 189 ; 
character of Baltimore's grant, 191. 

Baltimore, Benedict, Lord, 377. 

Banister, Colonel John, 725. 

Baptists in Virginia, Blair's letter re- 
specting, 554. 

Barges, battle of, 738. 

Barlow, Captain, 29. 

Barradall, Edward, 434. 

Barron, Commodore James, 679. 

Barron, Captain Richard, (379-80, 738. 

Barron, Lieutenant William, G79. 

Barron, Captain Samuel, 723, 738. 

Batt, Captain Henry, his expedition 
across the mountains, 268. 

Baylor, Colonel, 668, 691. 

" Bear and Cub," extract from Acco- 
mac records, 261. 

Behn, Mrs. Al'ra, 317. 

Bcnuet, Richard, a non-conformist, 
removes to Maryland, 212, 215 ; par 
liamentary commissioner, 216 ; with 
Clayborne reduces Maryland, 222 ; 
governor of Virginia, 223 ; agent 
at London, 233. 

Berkley, seat on James River, 163. 

Berkley, Sir William, governor, 200 ; 
issues proclamation against non- 
conformists, 203; captures Ope- 
chancanough, 204 ; visits England, 
204; generosity to royalist refugees, 
215; surrenders colony, 217 ; goes 



into retirement, 222 ; generous 
treatment of, 225 ; elected gover- 
nor, 242 ; errors regarding his elec- 
tion, 243 ; Charles the Secoud sends 
new commission to, 248 ; emolu- 
ments of, 252-53 ; again visits Eng- 
land, 252 ; superintends Albemarle 
colony, 267 ; his statistics of Vir- 
ginia, 271 ; his imbecile conduct in 
regard to the Indians, 281 ; refuses 
to give Bacon a commission, 287 ; 
proclaims Bacon a rebel, 288 ; re- 
leases Bacon from arrest, 289 ; 
issues secret warrants to arrest Ba- 
con, 292 ; Bacon extorts commis- 
sion from, 295 ; summons Glouces- 
ter militia, 298 ; escapes to Acco- 
mac, 299 ; returns to Jamestown, 
306 ; escapes from Jamestown, 310 ; 
his recall and death, 223. 

Berkley, Lady Frances, 224. 

Bermuda Island, Sea-Venture wreck- 
ed on coast of, 94. 

Bermuda City, 125. 

Bermuda Hundred, 107, 112, 117. 

Beverley, Robert, clerk of assembly, 
persecution of, 335-6-8. 

Beverley, Robert, author of History 
of Virginia, 359. 

Birkenhead discloses plot, 263. 

Blackboard, the pirate, 396. 

Blair, Rev. James, Commissary, pro- 
cures college charter, 346 ; presi- 
dent of college, 347 ; his controversy 
with Andros, 356 ; his controversy 
with Nicholson, 368 ; his contro- 
versy with Spots wood, 400 ; his 
death and character, 434. 

Blair, John, president, 553 ; his letter 
concerning the Baptists, 554. 

Bland, Giles, 304, 320. 

Bland, Theodorick, speaker, 244. 

Bland, John, 264. 

Bland, Colonel Theodorick, Jr., has 
charge of convention troops, 694. 

Bland genealogy, 670. 

Bland, Richard, his "Letters to 
Clergy," 509; a burgess, 535; his 
"Inquiry into Rights of Colonies," 
549; member of committee of cor- 
respondence, 570 ; delegate to con- 
gress, 630 ; member of committee 
of safety, 624 ; death of, 670. 

Boiling, Colonel Robert, marries Jane 
Rolle, 122. 

Boone, Daniel, 595. 



INDEX. 



755 



Boston, 257 ; Culpepper visits, 329 ; 
port bill, 574; affairs at, 666. 

Botetourt, Lord, governor, 556, 558 ; 
his death, 559. 

Boucher, Rev. Jonathan, his opinions 
on slavery, 526. 

Braddock, Edward, General, his ex- 
pedition against Fort Du Quesne, 
471 ; defeat, 475 ; death, 480. 

Brandywine, battle of, 685. 

Braxton, Carter, interposes to stop 
Henry's advance, 612 ; member of 
committee of safety, 624; his Ad- 
dress to the Convention, 646; signer 
of Declaration of Independence, 
652 ; sketch of, 662. 

Breckenridge, 432, 490. 

Breut, Captain, 284. 

Bridge, Great, battle of, 635. 

Bryan, Butler, Miss, marries Gov. 
Spotswood, 408. 

Bucke, Rev. Mr., 95, 98, 117. 

Bullet, Thomas, 501, 594, 635. 

Bullet, Cuthbert, 594. 

Burden's grant, 428. 

Burgoyne, General, surrenders at Sa- 
ratoga, 686. 

Burnaby, Rev. Andrew, his account 
of Virginia, 502 ; his opinion on 
the disputes between assembly and 
ministers, 511. 

Burras, Anne, first Christian married 
in Virginia, 65. 

Burwell, Lewis, President, 450. 

Butler's Account of Virginia, 169-70. 

Byrd, Captain William, 421. 

Byrd, Colonel William, Sr., of West- 
over, purchases records of Virginia 
Company, 174 ; auditor, 341 ; his 
generosity to Huguenots, 370 ; runs 
dividing line, 41-1 ; his opinion of 
people of New England, 415 ; plans 
Richmond and Petersburg, 42 1 ; his 
death, 435; epitaph, 436. 

Byrd, Colonel William, Jr., of West- 
over, commands a Virginia regi- 
ment, 5oo ; member of council, 610. 

Byrd, Mrs. Maria, of Westover, her 
correspondence with Arnold, 712. 

Cabell, Col. William, member of 
convention of 1776, 624, 626 ; mem- 
ber of committee of safety, 624; 
sketch of, 626. 

Calvert, Sir George, first Lord Balti- 
more, 183, 189. 



Calvert, Leonard, commands expedi- 
tion for planting colony in Mary- 
land, 189. 

Camden, Gates defeated at, 698. 

Camm, Rev. John, opposes " Two- 
Penuy Act," 509, 514. 

Campbell, Colonel William, defeats 
Ferguson at King's Mountain, 699, 
700 ; at the battle of Guilford, 718; 
joins La Fayette, 735. 

Campbell, Lieutenant-Colonel, killed 
at Eutaw Springs, 745. 

Campbell, Colonel Arthur, 690. 

Carr, Dabney, 571. 

Carrington, Paul, member of com- 
mittee of safety, 624; sketch of, 
624-25. 

Carrington, Edward, 625. 

Carter, John, 238,'264T 

Carter, Robert, President, 412'.'' 

Carter, Charles, of Shirley, member 
of first council under republican 
constitution, 651. 

Carter, Colonel Landon, 509. 

Carthagena expedition, 417. 

Cary, Colonel Archibald, 555, 646 ; 
member of committee of corres- 
pondence, 570 ; reports preamble 
and resolutions of independence, 
646 ; chairman of committee to pre- 
pare declaration of rights and plan 
of government, 648. 

Charles the First, his colonial policy, 
175-79; disallows assemblies, 179; 
desires one to be called, 181 ; ap- 
points council of superintendence, 
187 ; grants Clayborne a license, 
188 ; reinstates Harvey, 195 ; his 
government, 197 ; his letter to as- 
sembly, 201; overthrown at Nase- 
by, 204; executed, 212. 

Charles the Second, restoration of, 
244; transmits new commission to 
Berkley, 247 ; grants territory of 
Virginia to Arlington and Culpep- 
per, 274. 

Charleston, South Carolina, founded, 
330. 

Charta, Magna, recognized, 237. 
Charter granted to London Com- 
pany, 35; new one, 76; dissolved, 
174; Virginia obtains a meagre 
one, 326. 
Chelsea, seat of Austin Moore. 387. 
Cberokees, party of, visit Williams- 
burg, 450 ; in Sandy Creek expedi- 



75G 



INDEX. 



tion, 490 ; reduced to submission, 
672 ; invaded by Shelby, 692. 

Chesapeakes town discovered, 23. 

Chesapeake Bay supposed to have 
been discovered by Spaniards, 19 ; 
Newport enters, 38; Smith explores, 
55, 60 ; discovered by English, 188 ; 
explored by Tory, 188 ; naval action 
in, 743. 

Chickahominy River, 45. 

Chickahominies, 110. 

Ohicheley, Sir Henry, appointed to 
command expedition against In- 
dians, 280 ; governor, 328, 332. 

Ckristanna, Fort, 384 

Church at Jamestown, 52, 101 ; of 
England, conformity to, required, 
151 ; condition of, in Virginia in 
1661, 249; laws concerning, 255; 
in Virginia, Rev. Morgan Godwyn's 
account of, 277 ; statistics of, 331 ; 
condition of, 354; dissent from, 
438; ministers of, oppose "Two- 
Penny Act," 509. 

Clarke, General George Rogers, cap- 
tures St. Vincenues, 691-92, 713. 

Clayborne, Colonel William, secretary 
of Virginia, effects settlement on 
Kent Island, 188 ; his contest with 
Maryland, 189, 192 ; convicted of 
high crimes, escapes to Virginia, 
goes to England, 192; expels Cal- 
vert from Maryland and usurps go- 
vernment, 205 ; one of commis- 
sioners for reducing Virginia, 216 ; 
assists Bennet in reducing Mary- 
land, 222 ; authorized to make dis- 
coveries, 225 ; with Bennet seizes 
government of Maryland, 230 ; dis- 
placed from office of secretary, 254; 
burgess, 281 ; member of court- 
martial, 315 ; genealogy, 324. 

Cohees, 424. 

Com, current, 350, 444. 

Collectors, 351, 354. 

College of William and Mary, 345-47, 
361-64, 376, 437. 

College, Hampden Sidney, founded, 
677. 

College, Washington, founded, 677. 

Commencement at William and Mary, 
361. 

Commissary, his power, 374. 

Committee of correspondence, 570. 

Committee of safety, 624. 



Commonwealth of England, 212. 

Company, Virginia, 175. 

Congress meets at Philadelphia, 579, 
618. 

Constitution of Virginia, 648. 

Convention troops quartered near 
Charlottesville, 694; removed, 708. 

Convention called by Bacon, 300. 

Convention meets at Williamsburg, 
575 ; second, meets at Richmond, 
599, 624; meets at Williamsburg, 
644 ; proceedings of, 644-48 ; in- 
structs delegates in congress to 
propose independence, 646. 

Convicts, 269. 

Convocation, 368, 400. 

Corbin, Colonel G., member of coun- 
cil, 610. 

Corbin, G., Jr., member of council, 
610. 

Corbin, Henry, 264. 

Corbin, Colonel Richard, deputy re- 
ceiver-general, 611. 

Corbin, John Tayloe, 645. 

Cornstalk, Indian chief, 585, 587, 589. 

Cornwallis, Lord, invades Virginia, 
726; pursues La Fayette, 728; 
marches to Point of Fork, 729 ; 
commits devastations, 733 ; retires 
to lower country, 735 ; pursued by 
La Fayette, 735 ; fortifies York- 
town, is besieged and capitulates, 
742-45. 

Correspondence, committee of, 570. 

Council, 351. 

Counties, 190. 

Court of claims, 351 ; county courts, 
352 ; general court, 352 ; courts 
closed, 620. 

Cromwell, Oliver, dissolves Long Par- 
liament, 225 ; declared Protector, 
225 ; his tolerant views, 231 ; let- 
ters, 230-31 ; death, 240 ; Virginia 
during his protectorate, 242. 

Cromwell, Richard, succeeds to pro- 
tectorate, 240 ; recognized by as- 
sembly, 241 ; resigns, 242. 

Cropper, Colonel, 740. 

Culloden prisoners, 340. 

Culpepper, Thomas, Lord, governor- 
in-chief, 328, 331, 333, 336. 

Cummings, Rev. Charles, 690. 

Curtis, Edmund, 220. 

Custis, Martha, Washington marries, 
504. 



INDEX. 



757 



Dale, Sib Thomas, governor, las code 
of martial law, 104; founds town 
of Henrico, 105 ; his expedition up 
York River, 108 ; proposes to 
marry a daughter of Powhatan, 
113; takes Pocahontas to England, 
116. 

Dandridge, Captain Nathaniel West, 
409, -lis, 422. 

Dandridge, John, 50 1. 

Dandridge, Martha, marries, first, 
John Parke Custis; and secondly, 
( reorge Washington, 504. 

Dandridge, Bartholomew, 644, 651. 

Pare Virginia, first Christian child 
bom in Virginia, 26. 

Davies, Rev. Samuel, settles in Han- 
over County, 446 ; his zeal and elo- 
quence, 417, 484; visits Great Bri- 
tain, 482 ; his allusion to Washing- 
ton, 483 ; patriotism and influence, 
483, 498. 

Dawson, Rev. Thomas, president of 
William and Mary, 505. 

Deane, Silas, 702-3. 

Declaration of Rights, 648. 

Declaration of Independence, 652; 
Virginia signers of, 652. 

Declaration, Slecklenburg, 615. 

Delaware, Lord, first governor of Vir- 
ginia, 77. 96,101, 103, 126. 

Delaware River, name of, 126. 

Delaware City, 126, 313. 

Delaware, Lady, presents Pocahontas 
at court, 119. 

Deunis, Captain, commissioner for 
reducing Virginia, 216; compels 
colony to surrender, 217. 

Dictator, alleged scheme of appoint- 
ing, 6 76. 

Digges, Fd ward, governor, 233; agent 
at London. 236. 

Digges, Dudley, 233. 

Disputes between colonies and mother 
country, 530. 

Diuwiddie, Robert, governor, 452 ; 
dissensions between him and as- 
cably, 454; his correspondence 
with Washington, 493, 496 ; letter 
to Pox", 494; succeeded by Blair, 
494, 498. 

Discovery, early voyages of, 17. 

Dis •liters, 202, 211, 371-73, 438, 
446. 

Dividing line, 414. 

Drake, Sir Francis, 24. 



Drummond, William, 266, 294, 299, 

302-3, 307-8, 316, 321. 
Drummond, Sarah, 303. 
Drysdale, Hugh, governor, 411. 

Dunmore. Lord, governor, 569; dis- 
solves assembly, 570, 573; his In- 
dian war, 582 ; indignation against, 
588 ; his proclamation, 607 ; re- 
moves powder, 607 : his proceed- 
ings, 608-10; offers "the olive 
branch," 618; retires aboard the 
Fowey, 619 ; correspondence with 
assembly, 619 ; his predatory war- 
fare, 632 ; driven from Cwynn's 
Island, 665; retires from Virginia, 
665; subsequent career, 665. 

Dunmore, Lady, arrives at Williams- 
burg. 572; retires aboard the Fo- 
wey. 612; returns to Williamsburg, 
618 ; embarks for England. 623. 

Dutch, the, England at war with, 264. 

Du Quesue, Fort, Braddock's expedi- 
tion against, 471 ; captured by 
Forbes, and called Fort Pitt, 502. 

Effingham, Lord Howard of, Gov- 
ernor, 336 ; his corruption and ty- 
ranny, 342. 

Elizabeth. Queen, names Virginia, 22. 

Elizabeth River, 59. 

Episcopate, American, 560. 

Eutaw Springs, battle of, 744. 

Fairfax. William, 435, 457. 

Fairfax, Thomas, Lord, 458. 

Fairfax, Bryan, 574. 

Farmingdale, 122. 

Farrar's Island, 104. 

Fauquier, Francis, governor, 508 ; 

his death, 553. 
Ferguson, Colonel, killed at King's 

Mountain. 698, 700. 
Ferrer. Nicholas, deputy treasurer of 

Virginia Company, 170, 174-76, 

187. 
Ferrer, John, 171,187, 226. 
Forbes, General, captures Fort Du 

Quesne, 502. 
Fontaine, John, 387. 
Fontaine, Rev. Peter, his opinion on 

slavery, 494. 
Francisco, Peter, 733. 
Franklin. Benjamin, 473, 652, 702. 
Fredericksburg, Smith visits site of, 

5'.) ; volunteers assembled at, 608. 
Free Trade established, 245. 



758 



INDEX. 



Free Church of Scotland, disruption 

of, 367. 
Fresh, great, 560. 
Fry, Colonel, 463-65. 

Gap, Dutch, 105. 

Gates, Sir Thomas, governor, 35, 77, 
94-8, 102-4, 111. 

Gazette, Williamsburg, 419. 

Gates, Horatio, serves under Brad- 
dock, 472 ; Burgoyne surrenders 
to, 686 ; defeated at Camden, 698. 

Geography, physical, of Virginia, 426. 

Germans settle valley of Shenandoah, 
431. 

Cermanna, residence of Governor 
Spotswood, 381, 404. 

Germantown, battle of, 685. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 19. 

Gilbert, Bartholomew, 29. 

Girty, Simon, 593. 

Godwyn, Rev. Morgan, his account 
of church in Virginia, 277. 

Gondomar, Count, 19, 169, 176. 

Gooch, William, governor, 414 ; com- 
mands Virginia regiment in Car- 
thagena expedition, 417 ; his cha- 
racter, 449 ; his interview with dis- 
senters, 440 ; his measures against 
them, 441 ; resigns, 448. 

Gookin, Dauiel, 164. 

Gosnold, Bartholomew, 35 ; his voy- 
age to New Englaud, 28 ; his death, 
43. 

Governor, powers of, 350. 

Gravescnd, Pocahontas dies at, 120. 

Greene, Nathaniel, General, 715. 

Greenspring, plundered by rebels, 308 ; 
assembly held at, 322. 

Grenville, George, introduces stamp 
act, 538. 

Griffin, Rev. C, 384. 

Grymes, John, member of council, 
446 ; taken prisoner, 665. 

Guilford, battle of, 718. 

Gwynn's Island, Dunmore driven 
from, 665. 

Hakluyt, Richard, 115. 

Hall, Carpenter's, congress meets in, 

579. 
Hamor, Ralph, visits Powhatan, 112. 
Hampden Sydney College founded, 

677. 
Hanover presbytery, memorial of, 

673. 



Hansford, one of Bacon's adherents, 
executed, 314. 

Hariot, Thomas, 23-4. 

Plarrison, Benjamin, of Surry, 654. 

Harrison, Benjamin, of Brandon, mem- 
ber of first council under republican 
constitution, 651. 

Harrison, Jr., Benjamin, of Berkley, 
member of committee of corres- 
pondence, 570 ; delegate to con- 
gress, 681 ; signer of Declaration, 
652 ; his family, 654-56. 

Harrison, John, delegate in congress, 
681. 

Harvey, Sir John, governor, 182 ; 
visits Calvert, 191 ; gives away large 
tracts of Virginia territory, 193; 
his corruption and tyranny, 193; 
deposed and reinstated 195. 

Hatcher, William, 228. 

Hawley, Major Joseph, of Massachu- 
setts, 601. 

Henrico, town of, 105. 

Heury, Prince, 109. 

Henry, Rev. Patrick, 521. 

Henry, John, father of Patrick Henry 
the orator, 520 ; his map of Vir- 
ginia, 521. 

Henry, Jr., Patrick, his speech in 
" Parsons' Cause," 515 ; early life 
and education, 519 ; his resolutions 
against stamp act, 538 ; Mason's 
opinion of, 573 ; member of conven- 
tion, 538-42 ; member of congress, 
579 ; his resolutions for putting 
colony in state of defence, 599 ; his 
speech, 600; captain of Hanover vo- 
lunteers, 611 ; recovers compensa- 
tion for powder, 612 ; Dunmore's 
proclamation against, 613; his 
popularity, 614; colonel of 1st Vir- 
ginia regiment, 627 ; resigns, 641 ; 
indignation of troops, 641 ; mem- 
ber of convention of 1776, 644; 
elected first governor of independ- 
ent Virginia, 650 ; alleged scheme 
of making him dictator, 676. 

Hill, Colonel Edward, (the elder,) 
speaker, 228 ; defeated by Ricahe- 
crians, 233 ; re-elected speaker, 239; 
disfranchised, 297 ; his death, 361. 

Hillsborough, Earl of, 558! 

Hobkirk's Hill, battle of, 727. 

Holloway, John, speaker, 415. 

Hopkins, William, lawyer, 416. 

Horrocks, Rev. James, 562. 



INDEX. 



759 



Howard, Lord of Effingham, 337, 342. 

Howe, Colonel, assumes command of 
Virginia troops at Great Bridge, 
636 ; occupies Norfolk, 638. 

Howe. Sir William, evacuates Boston, 

667. 

Hudson River discovered, GO. 
Huguenots, 369. 

Hunt, Rev. Robert, 38, 43, 51, 52. 
Hunter, Robert, appointed governor, 
captured during voyage, 375. 

Indians, seen at Cape Henry, 39 ; as- 
sault Jamestown, 42; Smith cap- 
tured by, 4(3 ; tribes of, discovered 
by Smith, 47 ; Smith erects fort as 
refuge from, 74; manners and cus- 
toms and character of. 85 ; exter- 
mination of, 50, 167 ; general act 
relating to, 255 ; number of, in Vir- 
ginia, 268-69 ; incursions of, 280, 
486, 4'J2 ; Piscataway besieged, 
2s.") ; murders committed by, 286 ; 
tribe of, massacred by Bacon, 289; 
Bacon marches against South-side 
tribes, 307 ; Spotswood reduces 
tribes of, 380 ; Captain McDowell 
slain by, 431 ; treaty with Six 
Nations of, 433 ; treaty of Lancas- 
ter, with, 433 ; battle with, at Point 
Pleasant, 584; Logan's speech,590; 
Boone's rencontres with, 595-98 ; 
Cherokee sue for peace, 672. 

Ingram succeeds Bacon, 313. 

Innes, Colonel, 469, 496, 632, 710. 

James the First, king, issues letters 
patent, 35 ; his cruel treatment of 
Raleigh, 134, 156 ; jealous of Vir- 
ginia Company, 169 ; death of, 
175. 

James the Second succeeds to throne, 
339 ; his despotism, 341 ; abdicates, 

* 342. 

Jamestown, landing at, 41 ; assaulted 
by Indians, 42 ; destroyed by tire, 
51 ; scarcity of provisions at, 75 ; 
abandoned by colonists, 98 ; they re- 
turn to it. 98 ; church at, 101 ; con- 
dition of, 12 t; Bacon enters, 293 ; 
situation of, 309; burnt by rebels, 
310; seat of government removed 
from. 358. 

Jarratt, Rev. Pevereux, biographical 
sketch of, 563. 

Jefferson, John, 172. 



Jefferson, Petet, 604. 

Jefferson, Thomas, meets with Pat- 
rick Henry, 524 ; member of com- 
mittee of correspondence, 570 ; his 
" Summary View," 575 ; notice of, 
603 ; marries Martha Skelton, 606 ; 
author of preamble to Declaration 
of Rights, 65(1 ; author of Declara- 
tion of Independence, 652 ; member 
of committee of revisal, 67t5 ; gover- 
nor, 708-11 ; attempt of British to 
capture, 732. 

Jeffreys, Colonel Herbert, governor, 
323; his proceedings, 326-28 ; suc- 
ceeded by Chicheley, 328. 

Jones, Rev. Hugo, 357, 382. 

Jones, Joseph, delegate to congress, 
681. 

Jumonville, M. De, death of, 464. 

Kemp, Richard, governor, 204. 
Kent Island, 196. 
Kenton, Simon, 593. 
King's Mountain, battle of, 699. 
Kinloch, Francis, 732. 
Kiquotan, (Hampton,) 66, 104, 139, 
319. 

La Fayette, Marquis De La, 722, 
735, 737, 743, 747, 748, 751. 

Land, grants of, 350. 

Lane, Ralph, governor of Raleigh's 
colony, 23. 

Laneville, 611. 

Lancaster, treaty of, 433, 

Laud, Archbishop, 189, 199. 

Lawrence, Henry, 241. 

Lawrence, Richard, 259, 294, 298-99, 
302, 311, 316, 317. 

Laydon, John, 65. 

Lee, Richard, 264. 

Lee, Richard Henry, his opinions on 
the "Two-Penny Act," 512 ; a bur- 
gess, 537 ; proposes separation of 
offices of speaker aud treasurer, 
544 ; sketch of his early life, 577 , 
moves resolution of separation from 
Great Britain, 652; biographical 
sketch of, 659; charges against, 
681; he demands an inquiry, 682; 
his defence and honorable acquittal, 
682-84. 

Lee, Francis Lightfpot, signer of De- 
claration, 652 ; notice of, 662 ; 
tenders his resignation as delegate 
in congress, 682. 



760 



INDEX. 



Lee, Thomas Ludweli, member of 
committee of safety, 624. 

Lee, Arthur, biographical sketch of, 
701. 

Lee, William, American commissioner 
at Vienna and Berlin, 704. 

Lee, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry, bio- 
graphical sketch of, 745. 

Lee, General Charles, 664, 668, 688. 

Leslie's invasion, 707. 

Lewis, Johu, pioneer of Augusta, 428. 

Lewis, Andrew, defeats Indians at 
Point Pleasant, 585-86 ; sketch of, 
588 ; his brothers, 589 ; appointed 
brigadier-general, 641 ; expels Dun- 
more from Gwynn's Island, 665. 

Lewis, Colonel Charles, killed at Point 
Pleasant, 585. 

Loan office scheme, 539. 

Logan, speech of, 590; sketch of, 
590-93 ; his death, 706. 

Loudoun, Lord, appointed governor- 
in-chief of Virginia, 500. 

Loudoun, Fort, in Virginia, 494. 

Loudoun, Fort, in Tennessee, 492. 

Ludweli. Thomas, 264 ; agent at Lon- 
don, 27(1 ; his death. 358. 

Ludweli, Colonel Philip, member of 
council, 291 ; captures Giles Bland, 
306; quarrels with Jeffreys, 327; 
sent to England to prefer com- 
plaints against Effingham, 342, 344. 

Lyons, James, attorney for plaintiff in 
•' Parsons' Cause," 516. 

Madison, Captain, 166. 

Madison, Jr., James, biographical no- 
tice of, 704. 

Makemie, Rev. Francis, 371. 

Manhattan. Ill, 151. 

Manakintown, 370. 

Manakin Indians, 289. 

Marriage, the first in Virginia, 65. 

Marshall, Colonel Thomas, 685. 

Marshall, John, (chief justice,) 635, 
713. 

Mary's, St., in Maryland, settled, 190. 

Mary's, Mount, St., settled by Gookin, 
164. 

Mason, George, draughts non-impor- 
tation agreement, 558 ; member of 
committee of safety, 624 ; author 
of declaration (or bill) of rights, 
648 ; author of constitution of Vir- 
ginia, 648 ; member of committee 
of revisal, 67b ; genealogy, 618. 



Massacre of colonists by Indians in 
1622, 160. 

Massacre of colonists by Indians in 
1644, 203. 

Massacre of tribe of Indians by Bacon, 
289. 

Massawomecks, tribe of, 58. 

Matthews, Captain Samuel, 209, 212 ; 
governor, 234 ; agent, 234, 236, 238; 
his election as governor declared 
void, 238 ; re-elected, 238. 

Matthews, Thomas, 284. 

McRoberts, Archibald, 566. 

Maury, Rev. James, plaintiff in " Par- 
sons' Cause," 515. 

Maynard, Lieutenant, his engagement 
with Blackbeard, 396. 

McDowell, Ephraim. 429. 

McDowell, Captain Johu, 431. 

Meade, Colonel Richard Kidder, aid- 
de-camp to Washington, 689 ; the 
Meades of Virginia, 689. 

Mechanics, condition of, 350. 

Mecklenburg Declaration, 615. 

Menendez, Pedro, 18. 

Mercer, Colonel George, 487, 543. 

Mercer, James, member of committee 
of safety, 624. 

Mercer, General Hugh, mortally 
wounded near Princeton, 668 ; no- 
tice of, 668-69. 

Merchants, 350. 

Methodists appear in Virginia, 562. 

Middle Plantation, 188. 

Minge, James, clerk of assembly, 281, 
301. 

Ministers, 249, 374, 696. 

Monacan Indians, 63. 

Monmouth, battle of, 688. 

Monmouth's adherents sent to Vir- 
ginia, 339. 

Monongahela, battle of, 474. 

Moore, Austin, of Chelsea, 387. 

Moore, Bernard, of Chelsea, marries 
daughter of Governor Spots wood, 
408. 

Moore, Lucy, married to Speaker Ro- 
binson, 548. 

Moore's Creek Bridge in North Caro- 
lina, battle of, 640. 

Morgan, General Daniel, notice of, 
686 ; his victory at Cowpens, 715. 

Morris, Samuel, dissenter in Hanover 
County, 439. 

Morrison, Francis, governor, 252 ; 
agent, 275. 



INDEX. 



761 



Morquez, Pedro Menendez, explores 
Bay of Santa Maria, (Chesapeake,) 
18. 

Mounds in Virginia, 85. 

Nansemond, 59. 

Navigation act, 218, 248. 

Navy, Virginia, GTS. 
sity, Port, 465. 
Northern, 248, 274. 

Negroes introduced into Virginia, 
L44. 

Negroes, number of, in 1649, 206. 

Negroes, number of, in 1670, 272. 

Negroes, number of, in 1714, 383. 

Negroes, number of, in 1756, 494. 

Negroes, duty on importation of, dis- 
allowed, 412. 

Negroes, loss of, during British inva- 
sions, 733. 

Nelson, President William, 654. 

Nelson, Thomas, 653. 

Nelson, Secretary Thomas, 651, 653, 
747. 

Nelson, Jr., General Thomas, his edu- 
cation. 653 ; member of convention, 
653; member of congress, 653; his 
letter urging independence, 645; 
signer of Declaration, 652 ; sketch 
of, 653; his family, 653-54 ; com- 
mands militia during Arnold's in- 
vasion, 710; commands militia at 
siege of York. 747 ; notice of him 
and his family, 653. 

Nelson, Judge Hugh, of Belvoir, 731. 

Newport, Captain, sails for Virginia, 
38 ; lauds at Jamestown and ex- 
plores the River Powhatan, 41 ; 
its Powhatan, 50; returns to 
England, 53; arrives with second 
supply, 01 ; explores Monacan 
country, 63 ; embarks for England, 
65. 

Nicholas, Robert Carter, elected trea- 
surer, 547 ; member of committee 
of correspondence, 624; member 
of convention, 600, 602. 

Nicholson, Colonel Francis, gover- 
nor, 344; succeeded by Andros, 
347 ; agaiu governor, 358 ; his ty- 
ranny, 358; his complaints against 
Virginia, 303; his speech to assem- 
bly, 305 ; his controversy with 
Blair. 308 ; is recalled, 369 ; notice 
of his career, 309. 

Non-importation agreement, 558. 



Norfolk incorporated, 420 ; burnt, 640. 

Northy, Attorney-General, 307. 

Norwood, Colonel, his voyage to Vir- 
ginia, 213 ; despatched by Sir Wil- 
liam Berkley to Holland, 215. 

Nott, Edward, governor, 375. 

Ohio Company. 452. 

Opechaucanough, captures Smith, 46 
seized by Smith, 71 ; visits James 
town, 124; his hypocrisy, 161 
heads a second massacre, 203 
taken prisoner by Berkley, and dies, 
204. 

Opitchapan succeeds Powhatau, 130. 

Orders, general, 642, 652. 

Ovid translated at Jamestown by 
George Sandys, 152. 

Page, John, member of council, 347, 
503. 

Page, Matthew, 347. 

Page, Mann. Jr.. 0.^2. 

Page, John, of Rosewell, member of 
council, 014; member of committee 
of safety, 024; member of first 
council under the republican con- 
stitution, 051 ; commands party of 
militia during Arnold's invasion, 
712. 

Pamunkey, or Pamaunkee, Indian 
name of York River, 47. 

Pamunkey, residence of Opechauca- 
nough, 47. 

Pamunkey Indians, 298. 

Parishes, 371. 

Parliament, Long, 199, 215. 

•' Parsons' Cause,'' 507. 

Paspaheghs, 39, 103 ; chief of, Smith's 
rencontre with, 73. 

Patriot, the, capture of, 738. 

Pendleton, Edmund, his early life and 
education, 535 ; opposes Henry's 
resolutions, 541 ; member of com- 
mittee of correspondence, 570 ; de- 
legate to congress, 575 ; member of 
committee of safety, 024 ; president 
of convention, 04 1 ; member of 
committee of revisal, 676. 

Percy, Captain George, governor, 63, 
00, 70, 73, 75, 97, 102. 

Petersburg incorporated, 438; skir- 
mishat, 720; General Phillips occu- 
pies, 720 ; his death at, 722 ; Arnold 
commands at, 722; Oormvullis ar- 
rives at, 720. 



r 62 



INDEX. 



Philadelphia, congress meets at, 
579. 

Phillips, General, prisoner of war, 
694; invades Virginia, 719; com- 
mits devastatkms,720-21; his death, 
722. 

Pianketank, 59. 

Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock, 144. 

Pirates, act against, 360. 

Pirate captured, 361. 

Piseitaway, siege of, 2S4. 

Plague in London, 265. 

Plantagenet Beauchamp, 210. 

Plantation, Middle, 300, 358: 

Plymouth, landing at, 144. 

Pocahontas rescues Smith, 48 ; enter- 
tains him with a dance. 62 ; dis- 
closes to him a plot, 67; made pri- 
soner by Argall, 107 ; John Rolfe 
marries, 109 ; baptized, 115 ; visits 
England, 116 ; recommended to the 
queen by Smith, 118 ; Smith's in- 
terview with, 118 ; presented at 
court, 119 ; her death, son, and de- 
scendants, 120, 122. 

Point Pleasant, battle of, 582, 584. 

Point Comfort. 59, 188. 

Population of Colonies, 362, 383, 450. 

Population of Virginia, 272. 

Porteriield, Colonel, mortally wound- 
ed at Camden, 698. 

Pory, John, 139, 172, 188. 

Post-office, 348. 

Potomac River, 56. 

Pott, Dr. John, governor, convicted 
of stealing cattle, 182-83. 

Powder, Dunmore's removal of, 607. 

Powhatan, name of river and seat, 41, 
42. 

Powhatan Indians, confederacy of, 
269. 

Powhatan, Indian chief, visited by 
Newport and Smith, 41, 49 ; re- 
leases Smith, 48 ; coronation of, 63 ; 
Smith visits, at Werowocomoco, 
65; "Powhatan's Chimney," built 
for him by English, 68 ; Werowo- 
comoco his residence, 68 ; consents 
to marriage of Pocahontas, 109 ; 
Hamor's interview with, 112 ; death 
of, and character, 129. 

Presbyterianism, origin of, in Han- 
over, 439. 

Preston, 432, 491. 

Pretender, 437. 

Printing in Virginia, 273, 418, 419. 



Puritans, English, come over to Vir- 
ginia, 144. 

Puritan ministers from New England 
visit Virginia, 302. 

Quakers, 244, 261, 396. 
Quiyoughcohanocks, chief of, 39. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, his efforts to 
colonize Virginia, 21 ; introduces 
tobacco at court, 25 ; anecdotes of 
his using tobacco, 25, 153 ; notice 
of his life and death, 132-36. 

Raleigh, Lady, 133, 134, 135. 

Raleigh, City of, in Virginia, char- 
tered, 26. 

Raleigh, the, 573. 

Randolph, Sir John, speaker, 420 ; 
his death, 424. 

Randolph, William, 424. 

Randolph, Peyton, king's attorney- 
general, 535 ; replied to by Davies, 
447 ; opposes Henry's resolutions, 
542 ; speaker of house of burgesses, 
630; delegate to congress, 575; 
president of congress, 579 ; member 
of committee of correspondence, 
624 ; his death, 629. 

Randolph genealogy, 629. 

Randolph, John, attorney-general, 
630. 

Randolph, Edmund, 630. 

Randolph, Beverley, 630. 

Randolph, John, of Roanoke, 630. 

Randolph, the frigate, blown up, 688. 

Rappahannock River, 57. 

Ratclitfe, John, 39, 43, 45, 53, 65. 

Read, Colonel Clement, member of 
convention of 1775-6, 625. 

Reekes, Stephen, pilloried, 199. 

Revenue, 353. 

Revolt threatened, 275. 

Ricahecrians, Colonel Edward Hill 
defeated by, 199, 233. 

Rice, Rev. Dr. John H., 82. 

Richmond, town of, laid off, 421 ; in- 
corporated, 433 ; convention meets 
at, 599 ; seat of government re- 
moved to, 710 ; entered by Arnold, 
710. 

Roanoke Islaud, 22, 23, 26, 226. 

Roanoke River, 24. 

Roanoke, or Rawrenoke, Indian shell- 
money, 56, 113. 

Roanoke, John Randolph of, 631. 

Robinson, John, president, 449. 



INDEX. 



763 



Robinson, John, Jr., speaker, 535 ; 

his defalcation, 544, 546 ; his family, 

548. 
Rockbridge County, first settlers of, 

423. 
Rolfe. John, marries Pocahontas, 109 ; 

member of council, 139. 
Rolfe, Thomas, son of Pocahontas, 

122. 
Rolfe, Henry, 122. 
Rolfe, Jane, marries Colonel Robert 

Boiling, 122. 

Safety, committee of, 624. 

Sandy Creek expedition, 489. 

Sandys, Sir Edwin, 144, 149, 151, 176. 

Sandys, George, treasurer in Virginia, 
151 ; translates Ovid at Jamestown, 
152. 

Scarburgh, Edmund, excites disturb- 
ances in Eastern Shore, 226 ; his 
proceedings as surveyor-general in 
establishing boundary line, 259. 

Scarburgh, Colonel John, 342. 

School, East India, 158. 

Scotch-Irish settlers of Western Vir- 
ginia, 423, 429. 

Sea-Venture, the, 77, 94. 

Secretary, office of, 352. 

Shakespeare's Tempest, 99. 

Shenandoah River, 389. 

Shenandoah valley, 425, 431, 505. 

Sheriffs, 353. 

Sherwood, Grace, tried for witchcraft, 

Shirley, 107, 126. 

Silk in Virginia, 158. 

Simcoe, Lieutenant-Colonel, 722, 729, 
735. 

Six Nations, treaty with, 433. 

Slaves, baptism of. 267. 

Slavery, negro, remarks on, 145, 528. 

Smith. Sir Thomas, treasurer of Vir- 
ginia Company. 37, 

Smith. Robert, 264, 266. 

Smith, Captain John, his early life 
and adventures, 30, 34; his life in 
jeopardy at Isle of Mevis, 38; one 
of council of Virginia, 39 ; excluded 
from council, 41 ; restored to coun- 
cil, 43; has charge of colony, 44; 
explores the country, 45; taken 
prisoner by Opechancanough, 46 ; 
rescued by Pocahontas, 48; ex- 
plores Chesapeake, 55; presideut, 
60 ; his energetic administration, 



64 ; visits Powhatan, 66 ; seizes 
Opechancanough, 71; encounters 
chief of Paspahegh, 73 ; builds 
fortlet on Ware Creek, 71 ; his 
efforts to quell disorders, 80 ; his 
return to England, 80 ; descendants 
still living in England, 83 ; his epi- 
taph, 83. 

Somers, Sir George, 35, 77, 94, 97, 102. 

South Carolina solicits aid from Vir- 
ginia, 391. 

Southampton, Earl of, treasurer of 
Virginia Company, 149, 175-77. 

Sovereignty, declaration of, 238. 

Spencer, Nicholas, president, 336. 

Spilman, Henry, 141. 

Spotswood, Alexander, governor, his 
lineage and early career, 378 ; dis- 
solves assembly, 379 ; assists North 
Carolina, 380 ; establishes Indian 
school, 384; visits Christanna, 385 ; 
his Tramontane expedition, 387 ; 
institutes Tramontane order, 390 ; 
his disputes with burgesses, 393-99; 
he dissolves assembly, 394; com- 
plaints against, 398; displaced, 
404; review of his administration, 
404; manufacturer of iron, 405 ; sub- 
sequent career, death, and family, 
404-10. 

Stamp act,- 534, 538, 543 ; repeal of, 
544. 

Staunton incorporated. 438. 

St. John's Church, 599. 

Starlins, Captain, 738. 

" Starving Time" at Jamestown, 93. 

State House, Philadelphia, congress 
meets in, 618. 

Statistics, 206, 271, 331, 349, 382, 
443, 471. 

Steg, Thomas, 216. 

"Stint" of tobacco, 265. 

Stith, Rev. William, president of Col- 
lege of AVilliam and Mary, and 
author of History of Virginia, 437, 
482. 

Stobo, Captain, 467-68, 504. 

Stone House, the old, on Ware Creek, 
74. 

Stone, deputy governor of Maryland, 
228. 

Strachey, William, 102, 106. 

Stratford, 577. 

Stuart, house of. 2 13. 

St udley. birth-place of Patrick Henry, 
519. 



764 



INDEX. 



Stukeley, Sir Lewis, 122. 

Stuyvcsaut, Peter, Berkley's reply to, 
246. 

Suffolk burnt by the British, 697. 

Summer Islands, 102, 109. 

Surrender of Virginia to Common- 
wealth of England, 217. 

Surrender of Burgoyne, 686. 

Surrender of Cornwallis, 749. 

Swift, Pean, desires to be bishop of 
Virginia, 377, 562. 

Swift Run Gap, 388. 

Syme, Colonel John, 519. 

Tabb, John, member of committee of 
safety, 624. 

Tarleton, Lieutenant-Colonel, 715, 
729, 731, 734, 750. 

Tayloe, John, member of first council 
under republican constitution, 651. 

Tea, duty on, 568. 

Tempest, Shakespeare's, 99. 

Temple, Colonel Benjamin, 713. 

Thompson, Rev. John, 409. 

Tobacco, or Uppowoc, how used by 
Indians. 24 ; Lane introduces into 
England, 25 ; anecdotes of Ra- 
leigh's smoking, 25,153; culture 
of, commenced by colonists, 117 ; 
new mode of curing, 125 ; cultiva- 
tion of, discouraged by government, 
151 ; James the First's aversion to, 
and his " Counterblast," 153-57 ; 
Charles the First affects monopoly 
of, 180 ; sole staple of Virginia, 
181 ; " stint" of, 265 ; low price of, 
281, 332 ; plant-cutting. 333 ; reve- 
nue from, 331 ; " Two-Penny Act," 
507 ; destroyed by the British, 733. 

Toleration act, 373. 

Tomocomo, 119. 

" Two-Penny Act," 507. 

Totopotomoi, 233. 

Trade, free, established, 245. 

Tuckahoe-root, 75, 87. 

Tuckahoe, a seat on James River, 604, 
631. 

Tuckahoes, a name given to inhabit- 
ants of Eastern Virginia, 424. 

Tucker, St. George, 672. 

Tyler, John, revolutionary patriot, 
723. 

Tyler, John, President, 724. 

Uttomattomakkin, 119. 



Valley of Virginia, first settlers of, ■ 
423, 429, 488. 

Valley Forge, Washington at, 687. 

Van Braam, Jacob, 461, 466, 468, 
504. 

Varina, 104-5. 

Vernon, Admiral, 417. 

Vernon, Mount, 417, 505. 

Vestries, 354. 

Virginia, state and condition of, 349 ; 
opposes stamp act, 538 ; becomes 
independent, 648. 

Virginia, name given by Queen Eliza- 
beth, 22. 

Virginians, habits of, 495. 

Waddell, Rev. James, "the Blind 
Preacher," 521. 

Walker, Br., 731. 

Walker, John, 731-32. 

Wallace, Rev. Caleb, 674. 

Washington, Colonel John, a burgess, 
281 ; commands militia at siege of 
Piscataway Fort, 285. 

Washington, Captain Lawrence, 417, 
452 ; his views on religious freedom, 
454; in Carthagena expedition. 
417. 

Washington, George, his lineage, 457 : 
early life, 457 ; surveyor, 458-59 ; 
major, 460; despatched on mis- 
sion through wilderness, 461; 
lieutenant-colonel, 465 ; surprises 
French party, 464 ; surrenders at 
Fort Necessity, 466 ; resigns, 470 ; 
aide-de-camp to Braddoek, 472 ; 
heroism at battle of Monongahela, 
477 ; his account of the defeat, 
479 ; commander-in-chief of Vir- 
ginia forces, 486; visits Boston, 
487 ; Dinwiddie's correspondence 
with, 496 ; member of assembly, 
503; marries, 503; receives thanks 
of assembly, 504 ; reports non-im- 
portation agreement, 558; attends 
meeting of burgesses, 571 ; member 
of congress, 575, 580 ; chosen com- 
mander-in-chief by congress, 621 ; 
his conduct of affairs during revo- 
lutionary war, 665-68, 686-87, 742, 
746, 748, 751. 

Washington, Colonel William, 716, 
718-744. 

Washington College founded, 677. 

Weedon, General George, 685. 



INDEX. 



765 



Wcrowocomoco, 48, 66, 71-2, 108, 
129-30. 

West Point, 126, 313, 316, 320, 327. 

West, Captain John, 1 95. 

West, Francis, Governor, 180. 

West, Sir Thomas, Lord Delaware, 96. 

Whitaker, Rev. Alexander, 106, 101), 
115, 117. 

While Captain John, Governor of 
City of Raleigh, in Virginia, 26. 

Whitefield preaches at Williamsburg, 
438, 445. 

William and Mary proclaimed in Vir- 
ginia. 343. 

William and Mary College, 345-47, 
361-64, 376, 437. 

William the Third, death of, 362; 
succeeded by Anne, 362. 

Williamsburg, City of, seat of govern- 
ment removed to, 358 ; descriptions 
of, 444, 502 ; disturbances at, 607 ; 
Cornwallis quartered at, 735 ; La 
Payette quartered at, 743. 

Winchester first settled, 427, 493. 

Wingfield, Edward Maria, first jnresi- 
dent of council, 41, 43. 



Wiuston, Sarah, mother "of Patrick 
Henry, 519. 

Winston, William, 520. 

Withe, artist, 23-4. 

Wives for colonists, 146. 

Woodford, Colonel William, appoint- 
ed to command second Virginia 
regiment, 627; sent against Dun- 
more, 633 ; refuses to acknowledge 
Colonel Henry's superiority in com- 
mand, 633 ; has command at battle 
of Great Bridge, 635. 

Wormley, Captain Ralph, 214. 

Wormley, Ralph, 610, 645 

AVythe. George, a burgess, 537 ; bio- 
graphical sketch of, 656. 

Yeardley, Sir George, Governor, 

117, 180. 
Yeardley, Lady Temperance, 180. 
Yeardley, Captain Francis, his letter 

to Ferrar, 226 ; Roanoke Indians 

visit, 226 ; purchases territory in 

North Carolina, 227. 



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LIBRARY BINOINO 

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ST. AUGUSTINE 
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